from MediaMatters.org
Summary: A Media Matters for America review has found that a July 24 report from a task force of the American Bar Association (ABA) on President Bush's use of so-called "signing statements" has been ignored by several media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, all three television networks, and Fox News prime-time shows. The ABA report concluded that Bush's practice of attaching signing statements to congressional legislation "weaken[s] our cherished system of checks and balances and separation of powers."
excerpt:
As reported in The Boston Globe, in his signing statements, "President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office."
Rather than vetoing a bill for certain aspects he does not wish to sign into law, Bush has often chosen instead to issue signing statements indicating his intention to disregard provisions in the law, or as the Post noted in its July 24 article on the ABA report, he is asserting his "right to ignore or not enforce laws passed by Congress." The ABA report noted that Bush has attached more signing statements to congressional legislation than all of the previous 42 U.S. presidents combined:
"From the inception of the Republic until 2000, Presidents produced signing statements containing fewer than 600 challenges to the bills they signed. According to the most recent update, in his one-and-a-half terms so far, President George W. Bush (Bush II) has produced more than 800."
More from MediaMatters.org
thanks to tristero
"just so long . . . I'm the dictator"
No comments:
Post a Comment