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March 11, 2009
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
Remember signing statements under Bush? Those were the special caveats that he put on bills in a side document as he signed the bill into law. Well it seems that Obama thinks that they are okay, at least as long as in his words, "As I announced this past Monday, it is a legitimate constitutional function, and one that promotes the value of transparency, to indicate when a bill that is presented for Presidential signature includes provisions that are subject to well-founded constitutional objections."
Obama Makes Use of Signing Statements
Which goes to show that no matter who is in charge, executive power has its temptations. That said, I doubt there really is anything new here. Presidents have probably been quietly asking their subordinates to not implement various parts of laws forever. But we live in an age of greater transparency and government scrutiny, and this is what that sort of implementation policy looks like today.
Posted by OneEyedMan at March 11, 2009 4:44 PM
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