Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe spends a fair amount of time reading Bush's signing statements.Today's article addresses a signing statement attached to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008.
The key provision in what is apparently a fairly vague signing statement concerns Iraq. Bush does not want to be limited in making any agreement which binds us to staying in Iraq permanently or forbids us from controlling oil in Iraq. In his judgment only he has the power, as only he had the power to go to war with Iraq.
As with so much of the Bush administration style, the meaning of words is disputed. The administration considers any agreement made with Iraq as a "compact", not a treaty. Ergo, Congress does not have to okay it.
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Among the presidential candidates, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama have said they would issue signing statements if elected. John McCain said he would not.
The last line in the article shows that our prospects for stopping this is not good. It is seldom that anyone ever gives up power, so I doubt anything will get better. I hate to think "bomb bomb Iran" McCain is our best hope.
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