Signing Statements

So, once again Bush has declared himself above the authority of the legislative branch:

Bush says he can edit security reports
President Bush, again defying Congress, says he has the power to edit the Homeland Security Department’s reports about whether it obeys privacy rules while handling background checks, ID cards and watchlists.

In the law Bush signed Wednesday, Congress stated no one but the privacy officer could alter, delay or prohibit the mandatory annual report on Homeland Security department activities that affect privacy, including complaints.

But Bush, in a signing statement attached to the agency’s 2007 spending bill, said he will interpret that section “in a manner consistent with the President’s constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch.”

So much for Congressional oversight, checks and balances, etc.

Of course I could have written this post, or a very similar one, about 135 times over the past six years.