Raw Story reports on a Boston Globe article that will cover Arlen Specter’s intention to hold hearings about George W. Bush’s habit of using signing statements to skirt the law and the will of Congress. I never put too much hope in Arlen Specter. He’s my Senator, but he’s never there at the end of the day when I need him to stand for something. He talks a good game, but he ususally backs down. Nonetheless, he seems to be genuinely concerned about the Bush administration’s theory of the unitary executive, and he wants someone to come down from the Justice Department to defend the administration’s interpretation of that theory.
“Specter said he was particularly troubled by Bush’s contention in December 2005 that he had the authority, as commander in chief, to bypass a law known as the McCain Amendment, which outlawed torture,” writes Charlie Savage. “The torture ban had passed both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly.”
“When the signing statements reach a point as they did with the McCain Amendment, which passed 89-9 in the Senate, and the president cherry picks [what laws he must obey or can ignore], it’s pretty flagrant,” Specter told the Globe in a phone interview…
…”I think that the president is trying to expand his executive authority at the expense of Congress’s constitutional prerogatives, and it’s very problemsome,” Specter said in a phone interview. “I want to get into the details with the administration on what they think their legal authority is.”
I also find the President’s use of torture problemsome, and I’m glad one of my Senators agrees with me. I’ll be gladder if Specter actually does something about it.
