george Plays By His Own Rules . . . .

From the Washington Post:

'Signing Statements' Study Finds Administration Has Ignored Laws
By Jonathan Weisman - Washington Post Staff Writer - Tuesday, June 19, 2007

President Bush has asserted that he is not necessarily bound by the bills he signs into law, and yesterday a congressional study found multiple examples in which the administration has not complied with the requirements of the new statutes.

Bush has been criticized for his use of "signing statements," in which he invokes presidential authority to challenge provisions of legislation passed by Congress. The president has challenged a federal ban on torture, a request for data on the administration of the USA Patriot Act and numerous other assertions of congressional power. As recently as December, Bush asserted the authority to open U.S. mail without judicial warrants in a signing statement attached to a postal reform bill.

For the first time, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office -- Congress's investigative arm -- tried to ascertain whether the administration has made good on such declarations of presidential power. In appropriations acts for fiscal 2006, GAO investigators found 160 separate provisions that Bush had objected to in signing statements. They then chose 19 to follow.

Of those 19 provisions, six -- nearly a third -- were not carried out according to law.

More on this topic here from Alternet.


Gee, what a surprise: bushco has the impression that they are "above the law" and won't play unless they get to make the rules.

"Yeah, I'll sign your silly bill for the photo op, but you don't expect me to actually abide by it, do you?"


Now the question is can and will the Congress do anything to reassert their role in the legislative process?

Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets . . . .