Bush quietly undercuts laws with bill-signing statement

Bush quietly undercuts laws with bill-signing statement

By Ron Hutcheson and James KuhnhennKnight RidderWASHINGTON -

President Bush agreed with great fanfare last month to accept a ban on torture, but he later quietly reserved the right to ignore it, even as he signed it into law.

Acting from the seclusion of his Texas ranch at the start of New Year's weekend, Bush said he would interpret the new law in keeping with his expansive view of presidential power. He did it by issuing a bill-signing statement -- a little-noticed device that has become a favorite tool of presidential power in the Bush White House.

In fact, Bush has used signing statements to reject, revise or put his spin on more than 500 legislative provisions. Experts say he has been far more aggressive than any previous president in using the statements to claim sweeping executive power -- and not just on national security issues.

``It's nothing short of breathtaking,'' said Phillip Cooper, a professor of public administration at Portland State University. ``In every case, the White House has interpreted presidential authority as broadly as possible, interpreted legislative authority as narrowly as possible and pre-empted the judiciary.''

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/13578051.htm

Some members of Congress from both parties also question the legal authority of presidential-signing statements.

``He can say whatever he likes. I don't know if that has a whole lot of impact on the statute. Statutes are traditionally a matter of congressional intent,'' said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In 2003, lawmakers tried to get a handle on Bush's use of signing statements by passing a Justice Department spending bill that required the department to inform Congress whenever the administration decided to ignore a legislative provision on constitutional grounds.

Bush signed the bill, but issued a statement asserting his right to ignore the notification requirement.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/1357805...

It is bad enough to see the system of checks and balances dismantled before my eyes, but to watch him steadfastly avoid any responsiblity, that's just adding insult to injury.

Just watch how quickly he passes the blame for bad Iraqi WMD intel onto foreign intelligence services. The legislative and judicial branches of government have a duty to diligently rein in an imperial executive, just like another "King George".

I urge them to do so and will give them my full support.