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Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws

By Jeralyn, Section Other Politics
Posted on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 03:00:05 PM EST
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The Boston Globe today has a report on President Bush's extraordinary power grab.

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.

Here's a comparison with other presidents. The founding fathers would turn over in their graves if they learned how Bush has decimated the separation of powers doctrine. Glenn Greenwald has more:

It is not uncommon for a President to refrain from executing a law which he believes, and states, is unconstitutional. Other Presidents have invoked that doctrine, although Bush has done so far more aggressively and frequently. But what is uncommon - what is entirely unprecedented - is that the administration's theories of its own power arrogate unto itself not just the right to refrain from enforcing such laws, but to act in violation of those laws, to engage in the very conduct which those laws criminalize, and they do so secretly and deceitfully, after signing the law and pretending that they are engaged in the democratic process. That is why the President has never bothered to veto a law -- why bother to veto laws when you have the power to violate them at will?

On a related note, Crooks and Liars has the video of Stephen Colbert's skewering of Bush at the White House correspondents' dinner last weekend. I loved the video segment with Helen Thomas. The transcript is here.

Peter Daou notes how the media's non-coverage of Colbert's appearance.

This is the power of the media to choose the news, to decide when and how to shield Bush from negative publicity.

< Oh Say Can You Listen | Beware Bush's Phony Crisis on Iran >

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    • Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws | 16 comments (16 topical)
    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#1)
    by Punchy on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 03:50:42 PM EST
    How many years in jail does anyone NOT named George Bush get for breaking 750 laws in 5 years?

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#2)
    by squeaky on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 03:56:03 PM EST
    Well what do you expect from a "decider"? Take away his pen and who know what he would do. Grab a sword and throw a tantrum? Heads would roll. As long as the Voters, the Press, and the Congress continue to sleep, our Chimperor can do anything he wants. He is the law and he knows it.

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#3)
    by Edger on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 03:58:35 PM EST
    Good question Punchy, considering that many of the people who are not named George Bush voted for him, as well as ostensibly enough others to elect him. They, as well as the rest of the country, are his employers - are they not higher up the chain of authority than he is? It would be an interesting legal test for some of them to claim the authority to to disobey laws and write signing statements of their own.

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#4)
    by Johnny on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 04:00:27 PM EST
    I guess if the "turrists" hate us for our freedoms, they must love a power-grabbing right wing religiofascist running this country. I mean, he want to restrict personal freedoms, institute religion as a compulsory part of everyones life, decry true scientific thinking, and engage in constant warfare. Why, he almost sounds like he could fit right in governing a country in the middle east. Remember-if you voted for him, you endorse this type of dictatorial powers. Why do the bush voters hate America?

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 04:07:55 PM EST
    What does concern me, as a global citizen, but would by far more, as a US one is. Bushco knows there has to be a day of reckoning, is it conceivable that they will calmly await the end of his term and hope for the best, or will they pull a stunt of such proportions that they would fear no more. What such a stunt might be I have no idea, but it is a thought that crosses my mind and not infrequently.

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 04:10:23 PM EST
    Or better put in these imortal words. "For it must be noted, that men must either be caressed or else annihilated; they will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot do so for great ones; the injury therefore that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his revenge." Machiavelli. The Prince. 1518.

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#7)
    by squeaky on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 04:16:09 PM EST
    jonny-
    Why, he almost sounds like he could fit right in governing a country in the middle east.
    More like the middle ages.

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 04:39:43 PM EST
    Beware Bush's Phony Crisis on Iran
    That was a timely posting Jeralyn. Goodnight and many thanks.

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 07:20:24 PM EST
    IMPEACH BUSH!

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#10)
    by dutchfox on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 08:08:16 PM EST
    Once again, Gary Younge, in the Guardian, hit's the nail on the head....
    Take the generals. Most of them were arguing not that Rumsfeld was wrong to take the US to war, but that he should have fought it with more soldiers and greater firepower. What has been lacking on both sides of the Atlantic - particularly over the past three years - has been accountability. The issue is not so much that these people don't resign, but rather that those who stay refuse to take responsibility for anything they do. Holding leaders accountable demands linking their individual acts to the institutional cultures that made the acts possible. That might result in resignation, but the ramifications are more far-reaching - for the issue in question and for the democracy at large - than the fate of one person. "The question at this point is not whether Rumsfeld should resign," Joanne Mariner, of Human Rights Watch, told Progressive magazine. "It's whether he should be indicted."


    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#11)
    by dutchfox on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 08:51:07 PM EST
    link Here's the link...first time posting here..I'll catch on....

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#12)
    by Peter G on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 09:17:44 PM EST
    Sorry, TL, but your headline is wrong; it seems to me that you've misinterpreted the linked story. What the Globe report is saying is not that Bush has violated or disobeyed 750 laws, but that he has issued 750 "signing statements" when signing congressional enactments into law which express reservations about whether the new law may contravene the separate constitutional powers of the Executive Branch. These "signing statements" purport to reserve the "right" of the President to disregard the law he is signing, if applying it in particular circumstances that might later arise would (supposedly) encroach some power assigned to the Executive under the Constitution. Under current conservative constitutional theory (pioneered in part by now-Supreme Court Justice Alito when he was a Reagan Justice Dept office some years ago) the President can lawfully disregard a statute that violates the separation of powers. They say they can decide this themselves, without declaring it publicly or seeking a court adjudication. And of course they construe the Executive Power very broadly. The story doesn't say Bush has actually exercised this power hundreds of times, although we know he has done it at least several times (such as by authorizing the NSA wiretapping program, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ("FISA").

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#13)
    by scarshapedstar on Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 10:23:14 PM EST
    Okay, Peter, you're right. Bush only said he'd break 750 laws. For all we know he's only broken 600. And unless one of them was getting a blowjob, there's no impeachment to be had.

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#14)
    by Johnny on Mon May 01, 2006 at 03:58:36 AM EST
    And unless one of them was getting a blowjob, there's no impeachment to be had.
    LMFAO

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#15)
    by kdog on Mon May 01, 2006 at 07:18:05 AM EST
    All the cries for "law and order" in the immigration debate. But none when it comes to executive power abuse. Hypocrites.

    Re: Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon May 01, 2006 at 02:39:06 PM EST
    Froomkin has a comprehensive list on how this American Hero went down with the various media.

    Report: Bush Has Violated 750 Laws | 16 comments (16 topical)