Presidential Signing Statements...and other weirdness:)

So what is a 'signing statement' and why is it getting news right now?

From Wikipedia: "A signing statement is a proclamation, normally written, issued by a member of the executive branch of a government, usually the head of that branch, to accompany the signing of a law passed by the legislative branch and generally sets forth how the executive branch intends to interpret and enforce the new law."

Sounds pretty straightforward. In the case of the United States, it means the President attaches a 'signing statement' to a bill to say how he intends to enforce it...

Which brings us to the McCain Detainee Amendment, which President Bush promised he'd sign. This was the legislation drafted in response to the global revulsion at the Abu Gharib scandal. The picture you see above is Bush signing the McCain Amendment. But then he attached a signing statement:

The executive branch shall construe section 8104, relating to integration of foreign intelligence information, in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority as Commander in Chief, including for the conduct of intelligence operations, and to supervise the unitary executive branch. Also, the executive branch shall construe sections 8106 and 8119 of the Act, which purport to prohibit the President from altering command and control relationships within the Armed Forces, as advisory, as any other construction would be inconsistent with the constitutional grant to the President of the authority of Commander in Chief.

Whew...that's wordy. What does it mean? It means he doesn't have to obey the law he just signed. (Link to great article on this issue by John Dean HERE)

Which brings us to the news from the Boston Globe today that the American Bar Associations Board of Governors has agreed unanimously to investigate whether or not President Bush "exceeded his constitutional authority in reserving the right to ignore more than 750 laws that have been enacted since he took office."

The ABA's president, Michael Greco

``The American Bar Association feels a very serious obligation to ensure that when there are legal issues that affect the American people, the ABA adopts a policy regarding such issues and then speaks out about it. In this instance, the president's practice of attaching signing statements to laws squarely presents a constitutional issue about the separation of powers among the three branches."

Yikes:) Look for the results of this investigation to come out later this Summer...

Stay loose and as always...

Stay Naked.

ad