If he doesn't like a specific part of a bill he signs..he makes it disappear by issuing a signing statement. The newest of these, via The Progress Report:
Earlier this week, President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, which included a statute forbidding the Bush administration from spending taxpayer money "to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq."
But Bush quietly attached a signing statement to the law, asserting a unilateral right to disregard the ban on permanent bases in addition to three other measures in the bill. "Provisions of the act...could inhibit the president's ability to carry out his constitutional obligations...to protect national security," the signing statement read.
Reacting to the statement, Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Mark Agrast said, "On the merits, for the president to assert that Congress lacks the authority to say there shouldn't be permanent bases on foreign soil is fanciful at best." Bush's "frequent use of signing statements to advance aggressive theories of executive power has been a hallmark of his presidency," writes the Boston Globe's Charlie Savage, who has authored a book on that topic.
In 2006, the American Bar Association condemned signing statements as "contrary to the rule of law and our constitutional separation of powers." Bush's latest signing statement was immediately met with anger on Capitol Hill. "I reject the notion in his signing statement that he can pick and choose which provisions of this law to execute," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) added, "Congress has a right to expect that the Administration will faithfully implement all of the provisions" of the law -- "not just the ones the President happens to agree with."
The Dipshit-in-Chief has issued over 800 signing statements during his reign of terror. John Dean has a pov about this bullshit here. Its worth your time to check it out.
Tags: Bush Signing Statement, Permanent military bases in Iraq
