Presidential Signing Statements
Obama Reality Check - Presidential Powers Edition
This morning, news comes from the AP that Obama plans to “undo” many of President Bush’s actions by using one of Bush’s favorite techniques, the all-powerful executive order.
November 10, 2008 | Read More
A Final Insult To The Constitution
For months, the U.S. has been been hammering out a “strategic alliance” with the Iraqi government. The pact must be approved by the Iraqi Parliament before it can take effect. But the people’s representatives in this country won’t get a say.
October 22, 2008 | Read More
Four Ways to Rein in the Imperial President
The administration of the last eight years harmed our country in many ways, but one of its worst offenses was the aggressive (criminal if you ask me) pursuit of presidential power. Dick Cheney cut his teeth in the Nixon White House. He hated the way Congress limited the power of the executive branch after Watergate. Ever since those dark days, he’s been trying to find a willing stooge to restore what he considers the god given right of the president to act like a king. He found just the guy in our last president.
Thankfully, our national nightmare is almost over. The…
August 25, 2008 | Read More
Reason #25: Presidential Signing Statements - The Arrogance of Unchecked Power
One of the most devious, and patently illegal, ways that Bush grabbed power from the other branches of government was by using so-called “signing statements” to ignore laws he didn’t agree with. Prior to his administration, presidents rarely penned these addendums when they believed parts of a given law impinged on their constitutional authority. But Bush issued some 800 of them, more than double the number written by every president in our history combined.
In 2005, for example, John McCain passed a bill forbidding torture. Bush signed it into law, but added a statement that effectively - and unilaterally - exempted…
August 25, 2008 | Read More
