posted April 30, 2006 11:04 PM              

...from the Boston Globe

Bush challenges hundreds of laws

By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | April 30, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.

Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ''to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ''execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional.

Former administration officials contend that just because Bush reserves the right to disobey a law does not mean he is not enforcing it: In many cases, he is simply asserting his belief that a certain requirement encroaches on presidential power.

But with the disclosure of Bush's domestic spying program, in which he ignored a law requiring warrants to tap the phones of Americans, many legal specialists say Bush is hardly reluctant to bypass laws he believes he has the constitutional authority to override.

Far more than any predecessor, Bush has been aggressive about declaring his right to ignore vast swaths of laws -- many of which he says infringe on power he believes the Constitution assigns to him alone as the head of the executive branch or the commander in chief of the military.

Many legal scholars say they believe that Bush's theory about his own powers goes too far and that he is seizing for himself some of the law-making role of Congress and the Constitution-interpreting role of the courts.

Phillip Cooper, a Portland State University law professor who has studied the executive power claims Bush made during his first term, said Bush and his legal team have spent the past five years quietly working to concentrate ever more governmental power into the White House.

''There is no question that this administration has been involved in a very carefully thought-out, systematic process of expanding presidential power at the expense of the other branches of government," Cooper said. ''This is really big, very expansive, and very significant."

For the first five years of Bush's presidency, his legal claims attracted little attention in Congress or the media. Then, twice in recent months, Bush drew scrutiny after challenging new laws: a torture ban and a requirement that he give detailed reports to Congress about how he is using the Patriot Act
***

For the rest, click here....
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/04/30/bush_challe nges_hundreds_of_laws/

posted April 30, 2006 11:23 PM            

Further Rainbow, Congress has no authority to diminish the Presidents powers to act as Commander and Chief of military forces and to take actions he deems necessary to protect the United States and it's citizens.

Congress has been attempting to encroach on the President's Constitutional authority and Bush has...in effect told them to stuff it.

posted April 30, 2006 11:36 PM              

....because the best way to conquer....

.......is to divide....

Why do you suppose that commander corruption and shrub sr. are such good buds, lately?

posted April 30, 2006 11:44 PM              

we need to meet in a balance..Truth Prevails. ...

posted May 01, 2006 12:29 AM              

quote:

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Remember Rainbow..it was you that told me two sides were needed.

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posted May 01, 2006 12:33 AM              

quote:

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Only in your fantasy world are there no leftists Rainbow

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It is only in the "fantasy world" of the sheeple that left and right exist....

In real life, it doesn't....NWO does!

...and you never did answer my question about commander corruption and shrub Sr....

posted May 01, 2006 01:21 AM            

Bush has made use of Clinton from time to time in areas where he can be useful.

You see a conspiracy under every rock, behind every tree and around every corner. Too bad, it's a hell of a way to waste time.

posted May 01, 2006 01:25 AM              

The man is insane. Plain and simple.

Some good news. Three state legislatures, Illinois, California, and Vermont, have now introduced resolutions to send petitions to the U.S. House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against Bush (and, in the case of California, Cheney too).

posted May 01, 2006 01:28 AM              

quote:

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The man is insane. Plain and simple.

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All I gotta say is..."Ya got THAT right, girl"

Now I'm off to beddie bye...(I think)
Nite, nite....

posted May 01, 2006 01:32 AM              

great..just wonderful..I am being sarcastic..

posted May 01, 2006 01:36 AM            

Leftists are actually helping Bush by showing their @sses to the public.

posted May 01, 2006 01:56 AM              

Hey, Mrs. Commander Corruption is slated for next pres....

It will look like the Democrats have taken over.......

.......but it will be an ill lu shun!

(don't fret jwhop! She's not REALLY a Democrat!)

posted May 01, 2006 02:14 AM            

(Globe Staff Graphic / Joan McLaughlin)

SOURCE: Presidential signing statements analyzed by Christopher Kelley, a political science professor at Miami University of Ohio, and by the Globe

Examples of the president's signing statements
April 30, 2006

Since taking office in 2001, President Bush has issued signing statements on more than 750 new laws, declaring that he has the power to set aside the laws when they conflict with his legal interpretation of the Constitution. The federal government is instructed to follow the statements when it enforces the laws. Here are 10 examples and the dates Bush signed them:

March 9: Justice Department officials must give reports to Congress by certain dates on how the FBI is using the USA Patriot Act to search homes and secretly seize papers.

Bush's signing statement: The president can order Justice Department officials to withhold any information from Congress if he decides it could impair national security or executive branch operations.

Dec. 30, 2005: US interrogators cannot torture prisoners or otherwise subject them to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

Bush's signing statement: The president, as commander in chief, can waive the torture ban if he decides that harsh interrogation techniques will assist in preventing terrorist attacks.

Dec. 30: When requested, scientific information ''prepared by government researchers and scientists shall be transmitted [to Congress] uncensored and without delay."

Bush's signing statement: The president can tell researchers to withhold any information from Congress if he decides its disclosure could impair foreign relations, national security, or the workings of the executive branch.

Aug. 8: The Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its contractors may not fire or otherwise punish an employee whistle-blower who tells Congress about possible wrongdoing.

Bush's signing statement: The president or his appointees will determine whether employees of the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can give information to Congress.

Dec. 23, 2004: Forbids US troops in Colombia from participating in any combat against rebels, except in cases of self-defense. Caps the number of US troops allowed in Colombia at 800.

Bush's signing statement: Only the president, as commander in chief, can place restrictions on the use of US armed forces, so the executive branch will construe the law ''as advisory in nature."

Dec. 17: The new national intelligence director shall recruit and train women and minorities to be spies, analysts, and translators in order to ensure diversity in the intelligence community.

Bush's signing statement: The executive branch shall construe the law in a manner consistent with a constitutional clause guaranteeing ''equal protection" for all. (In 2003, the Bush administration argued against race-conscious affirmative-action programs in a Supreme Court case. The court rejected Bush's view.)

Oct. 29: Defense Department personnel are prohibited from interfering with the ability of military lawyers to give independent legal advice to their commanders.

Bush's signing statement: All military attorneys are bound to follow legal conclusions reached by the administration's lawyers in the Justice Department and the Pentagon when giving advice to their commanders.

Aug. 5: The military cannot add to its files any illegally gathered intelligence, including information obtained about Americans in violation of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches.

Bush's signing statement: Only the president, as commander in chief, can tell the military whether or not it can use any specific piece of intelligence.

Nov. 6, 2003: US officials in Iraq cannot prevent an inspector general for the Coalition Provisional Authority from carrying out any investigation. The inspector general must tell Congress if officials refuse to cooperate with his inquiries.

Bush's signing statement: The inspector general ''shall refrain" from investigating anything involving sensitive plans, intelligence, national security, or anything already being investigated by the Pentagon. The inspector cannot tell Congress anything if the president decides that disclosing the information would impair foreign relations, national security, or executive branch operations.

Nov. 5, 2002: Creates an Institute of Education Sciences whose director may conduct and publish research ''without the approval of the secretary [of education] or any other office of the department."

Bush's signing statement: The president has the power to control the actions of all executive branch officials, so ''the director of the Institute of Education Sciences shall [be] subject to the supervision and direction of the secretary of education."

posted May 01, 2006 10:43 AM            

The lone exception is to make a report from time to time on the state of the Union.

Now acoustic, great constitutional authority that you are; if you disagree with what I said, SHOW ME FROM THE CONSTITUTION THE AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS TO REQUIRE ANY OTHER ACTS BY THE PRESIDENT.

A CONGRESSIONAL ACT which requires an individual, a branch of government or the President to do anything not specifically called for in the Constitution is, on it's face UNCONSTITUTIONAL, VOID, UNENFORCEABLE AND OF NO EFFECT.

I'll wait right here acoustic while you thumb through the Constitution to find the exact Article and Section to back up your absurd claim that Congress can require the President to do anything...other than report from time to time on the state of the Union.

Anything Congress does which is beyond the authority the Constitution gives Congress to make the laws is a clear attempt to encroach on the Constitutional Authority of the President, by Congress. Those encroachments should be resisted by all Presidents, since they are UNCONSTITUTIONAL ON THEIR FACE.

posted May 01, 2006 11:04 AM              

quote:

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Further Rainbow, Congress has no authority to diminish the Presidents powers to act as Commander and Chief of military forces and to take actions he deems necessary to protect the United States and it's citizens.

---

Good God! Jwhop, this is your take on the Constitution??!! An executive branch given such complete carte blanche? I'm actually shaking from just the thought of it. How much time do we have before rounding up dissident citizens "to protect the United States" will be in order? How about a little martial law? You know, just long enough for the Prez to get things under control. How does that suit you? So much for the triad, so much for a balance of power ... which was designed TO PREVENT THIS SORT OF INSANE TALK!

posted May 01, 2006 11:35 AM            

They have authority to act within the powers assigned by the Constitution to the Executive Branch of government..unfettered by legislative acts passed by Congress to encroach on their Constitutional authority.

Congress has the power of the purse strings and can cut off funding for war they have first authorized, cut funding for executive branch agencies and departments etc. What Congress cannot do is direct the President to account to them in the conduct of the war. They may not attempt to direct and control the military of the United States or Excutive Branch agencies, which is an executive branch..presidential function.

posted May 01, 2006 11:48 AM            

If this should ever go to court, then we'll see the constitutionality of these signing statements. I sincerely doubt they'd stand up to legal scrutiny (think 'line item veto').

"Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law."

It doesn't say ANYWHERE in there that the president is able to attach a rider, or an interpretation of the law that is different from how it is written. The President is supposed to reject the bill and submit the objections with that veto back to Congress.

Furthermore, one of Congress' listed duties is:

"To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof."