Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., was among the many GOP no-shows at an important Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday — on President Bush’s use of signing statements 750 times to flex his executive power and signal his disdain for all or parts of laws he has signed. Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., is so concerned about the practice that he’s thinking Congress might sue the president over the dismissive statements.
Meanwhile, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michelle Boardman argued that Bush has shown Congress respect by using the statements rather than vetoing whole bills. “Respect for the legislative branch, when we have a well-crafted bill, the majority of which is constitutional, is shown when the president chooses to construe a particular statement in keeping with the Constitution, as opposed to defeating an entire bill that would serve the nation,” she said.
So let’s use an example to see if we understand this correctly. Bush argues that Congress shouldn’t outlaw torture. Congress considers his arguments, rejects them, and overwhelmingly passes the ban. Bush holds a press conference and says he supports the ban. But then Bush quietly adds a signing statement saying he has the power to ignore the ban. This is respecting Congress?
As Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., noted during Tuesday’s hearing: “This administration has said, even with a rubber-stamp Republican Congress, they don’t care what we think. They’re going to decide what laws to follow and what laws to disobey, and . . . nobody up here will call them on it.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
On Tuesday the Senate rejected, by one vote, a constitutional amendment to prohibit flag desecration. The words of Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii — a World War II veteran and Medal of Honor winner — bear repeating: “Our country’s unique because our dissidents have a voice. While I take offense at disrespect to the flag, I nonetheless believe it is my continued duty as a veteran, as an American citizen and as a United States senator to defend the constitutional right of protesters to use the flag in nonviolent speech.” Kansas Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts both voted for the ban.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Many Americans who were skeptical about the need to invade Iraq were reassured after then-Secretary of State Colin Powell presented the case to the United Nations Security Council in February 2003. After all, if Powell thought Iraq posed a real and present danger, then it must be true. But it turns out that a key claim in his U.N. presentation was opposed by top intelligence officials. In reviewing the speech beforehand for errors, Tyler Drumheller, who was the CIA’s European operations chief, crossed out the claim about Iraq building mobile biological labs for germ warfare, because he knew the source of the claim was a discredited Iraqi defector named Curveball, The Washington Post reported. Yet the claim still was included in Powell’s speech.
How did that happen? In part, it was because then-CIA Director George Tenet personally vouched for the accuracy of the mobile-lab claim, the Post reported. The labs were never found, and Tenet later received a Medal of Freedom.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Our editorial Sunday noted that The Eagle editorial board met separately last week with Attorney General Phill Kline and his Republican-turned-Democrat challenger, Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison. This is the race to watch this fall, and they both made clear that they will be swinging.
Kline is pursuing the same game plan that worked well for him in the 2002 GOP primary — attacking his opponent for supporting Senate Bill 323, a 2000 sentencing reform law that, Kline says, put more criminals on the street, some of whom later committed brutal crimes. But Morrison isn’t ready to concede the tough-on-crime prize. “I’ve got a 26-year history of putting bad guys in jail,” he said. He argues that the race “is about competence, and it’s about focus.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Mayor Carlos Mayans says he’s getting undeserved heat for floating proposals in support of the Museum of World Treasures, Wichita State University football and other projects.
He told The Eagle editorial board that he sees his role as starting a “community dialogue” on important topics, and that he doesn’t consider his ideas the final word.
He also faulted his fellow City Council members for their unwillingness to venture ideas. “Not doing anything is a decision,” he said, “and silence is not an idea.”
So why is the mayor being unusually silent about how to keep the Wranglers baseball team in Wichita?
He said he’s deliberately staying quiet on this issue, forcing his fellow council members to come up with ideas — to “teach them a little lesson about leadership.”
No doubt they appreciate it.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
