Recycling Stories In Hopes Of Gaining Traction
If you don't get traction with it the first time, rewrite it a bit and roll it out again. This appears to be the new media model for trying to damage the White House. Today, the AP rolls out the issue of presidential signing statements. Again. I can't even remember what round this is, it's been recycled so often.
WASHINGTON – A bill becomes the rule of the land when Congress passes it and the president signs it into law, right?
Not necessarily, according to the White House. A law is not binding when a president issues a separate statement saying he reserves the right to revise, interpret or disregard it on national security and constitutional grounds.
That's the argument a Bush administration official is expected to make Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who has demanded a hearing on a practice he considers an example of the administration's abuse of power.
"It's a challenge to the plain language of the Constitution," Specter said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm interested to hear from the administration just what research they've done to lead them to the conclusion that they can cherry-pick."
Apparently, enough to challenge many more statutes passed by Congress than any other president, Specter's committee says. The White House does not dispute that, but notes that Bush is hardly the first chief executive to issue them.
"Signing statements have long been issued by presidents, dating back to Andrew Jackson all the way through President Clinton," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Monday.
And regardless of all the huffing and puffing, this has been done for a long time. Despite what Congress would have you believe, the final call is made by the courts, regardless of what Congressional intent or signing statements there may be on a given law.
