Bush's Signing Statements--Dan Froomkin--WH Briefing--Wa Po

[Demeter]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/06/28/BL2006062801268.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email

It's the third item in the column:


It's still not really clear what Bush's signing statements amount to. Are they just a bunch of harmless boilerplate inserted into the Federal Register, as the White House is increasingly arguing -- or are they a sign of a massive encroachment on the separation of powers, as critics increasingly fear?

I've put together a pretty extensive review of what we know -- and more significantly, what we don't know and should know -- about signing statements over at my other Web site, NiemanWatchdog.org.

(big snip--go read it!)



Is Bush using signing statements simply to record his reservations about the constitutionality of certain provisions -- while enforcing them, nonetheless? Or is he in fact using them to unilaterally ignore laws he doesn't like?

This is discoverable -- through reporting.

But the only attempt I've seen thus far, by Brian Friel in the National Journal, was inconclusive.

[Demeter]

1. morning kick

[grasswire]

2. Dan Froomkin, my hero

His page is a must read, every single day.