The lies of this administration are just so reflexive and consistent:
President Bush agreed with great fanfare last month to accept a ban on torture, but he later quietly reserved the right to ignore it, even as he signed it into law.Acting from the seclusion of his Texas ranch at the start of New Year’s weekend, Bush said he would interpret the new law in keeping with his expansive view of presidential power. He did it by issuing a bill-signing statement — a little-noticed device that has become a favorite tool of presidential power in the Bush White House.
UPDATE: As Fast Eddie points out in comments, the linked article goes on to note that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito during his time as a Department of Justice attorney in the Reagan Administration wrote a memo encouraging the use of such bill-signing statements.
Holy shit. And from the Knight Ridder story Wayne links, it looks like this crap is about to become semipermanent unless the Dems grow a spine and block Alito:
"They may soon have an ally on the Supreme Court. As a Justice Department lawyer in the Reagan administration, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito wrote a 1986 memo outlining plans for expanded use of presidential signing statements.
"Although Alito told his bosses that the aggressive use of assertive signing statements "would increase the power of the executive to shape the law," he acknowledged doubts about their legal significance.
"Reagan adopted the strategy and used signing statements to challenge 71 legislative provisions, according to Kelley's tally. President George H.W. Bush challenged 146 laws; President Clinton challenged 105. The current president has lodged more than 500 challenges so far."
Posted by: Fast Eddie on January 9, 2006 10:27 AM