The Bush dictatorship is in full swing and today the Boston Globe takes a look at how it got to this point:
President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.
Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ”whistle-blower” protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.
Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush’s assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ”to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ”execute” a law he believes is unconstitutional.
Former administration officials contend that just because Bush reserves the right to disobey a law does not mean he is not enforcing it: In many cases, he is simply asserting his belief that a certain requirement encroaches on presidential power.
The amazing thing about this is the ignorance the United States Congress has portrayed in their role of oversight. When the authors of our Constitution sat down they knew there was an inherit danger of one branch of government becoming more powerful than another branch. That is why we have things like impeachment and vetoes in the constitution. Bush ignores all that because he has this idea that the President is some sort of King. Most likely he failed social studies in school.
Glenn Greenwald talks an in depth look to this very dangerous practice of the President.