Bush Guts Constitution, Again

"In other words, I jez set aside th'
consteetushun an' do whut I want."

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

"Whaddaya mean I caint do that?"

REUTERS/Larry Downing

"Ah donwanna play preznent no more."

AP Photo/Ron Edmonds

GW Bush continues his crusade to gut the US Constitution, this time by claiming the Senate is in adjournment when it is not.

On Friday (12/28), Bush announced a "pocket veto" of H.R. 1585:

The adjournment of the Congress has prevented my return of H.R. 1585 within the meaning of Article I, section 7, clause 2 of the Constitution. Accordingly, my withholding of approval from the bill precludes its becoming law. The Pocket Veto Case, 279 U.S. 655 (1929). In addition to withholding my signature and thereby invoking my constitutional power to "pocket veto" bills during an adjournment of the Congress, I am also sending H.R. 1585 to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, along with this memorandum setting forth my objections, to avoid unnecessary litigation about the non-enactment of the bill that results from my withholding approval and to leave no doubt that the bill is being vetoed.

Bush is claiming this is a "pocket veto," as defined in Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution. The President must either sign or veto a legislative bill within 10 days of its delivery to him, "unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return...."

Congress has not adjourned. The Senate has remained in session over the holiday break. In fact, the most recent pro forma session was Friday (12/28).

Congress delivered H.R. 1585 to Bush on Wednesday, December 19th. The Constitution exempts Sundays from the 10 day period. The ten days aren't up until (at least) Monday, December 31st. Bush has until then to attach his signature to his veto (an affirmative veto) or the bill becomes law.

Why is this important? Because Bush is flat out claiming the Senate's pro forma sessions do not mean what the Constitution says they mean -- Congress is still in session; Congress has not adjourned. And if that is accepted, then Bush can make recess appointments.

But wait! There's more! H.R. 1585 contains several provisions for veterans and active members of the Armed Forces, including a 3.5% pay raise, effective Jan. 1, 2008. The bill authorizes additional assistance for military families, retirement pay, disability pay, etc. Oh, and it authorizes $150.91 billion for appropriations for the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

How exactly is Bush supporting the troops here?

George W. Bush is vetoing this bill. He just doesn't want to actually put his signature to that veto, claiming Congress is preventing him from doing so, and thus ignoring the U.S. Constitution. Again.

[hat tip to Kagro X]

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SCHIP Veto Pop Quiz

What do the following members* of Congress have in common? Aderholt, Akin, Alexander, Bachmann, Bachus, Baker, Barrett (SC), Bartlett (MD), Barton (TX), Biggert, Bilbray,
Bilirakis, Bishop (UT), Blackburn, Blunt, Boehner, Bonner, Boozman, Boren, Boustany, Brady (TX), Broun (GA), Brown (SC),Brown-Waite Ginny, Burgess, Burton (IN),Buyer, Calvert, Camp (MI), Campbell (CA), Cannon, Cantor, Carter, Castor,Chabot, Coble, Cole (OK), Conaway, Crenshaw, Culberson, Davis (KY),Davis David, Deal (GA),Diaz-Balart, L., Diaz-Balart, M., Doolittle, Drake, Dreier, Duncan, Etheridge, Everett, Fallin, Feeney, Flake, Forbes, Fortenberry, Foxx, Franks (AZ), Frelinghuysen, Gallegly, Garrett (NJ), Gingrey, Gohmert, Goode, Goodlatte, Granger, Graves, Hall (TX), Hastert, Hastings (WA), Hayes, Heller, Hensarling, Hill,Hoekstra, Hulshof, Hunter, Inglis (SC), Issa, Johnson (IL), Johnson Sam, Jones (NC), Jordan, Keller, King (IA),Kingston, Kline (MN), Knollenberg, Kucinich, Kuhl (NY), Lamborn, Lewis (CA), Lewis (KY), Linder, Lucas, Lungren Daniel E., Mack, Manzullo, Marchant, Marshall, McCarthy (CA), McCaul (TX), McCotter, McCrery, McHenry, McIntyre, McKeon, Mica, Miller (FL), Miller Gary, Musgrave, Myrick, Neugebauer, Nunes, Paul, Pearce, Pence, Peterson (PA), Pickering, Pitts, Price (GA), Putnam, Radanovich, Reynolds, Rogers (AL), Rogers (KY), Rogers (MI), Rohrabacher, Ros-Lehtinen, Roskam, Royce, Ryan (WI), Sali, Saxton, Schmidt, Sensenbrenner, Sessions, Shadegg, Shimkus, Shuster, Smith (NE), Smith (TX), Souder, Stearns, Sullivan, Tancredo, Taylor, Terry, Thornberry, Tiahrt, Walberg, Walden (OR),Wamp, Weldon (FL),Weller, Westmoreland, Whitfield, Wicker, Wilson (SC).

A) They All Voted Against SCHIP Reauthorization which would provide medical coverage to ten million uninsured American children;

B) They All Voted Againist Legislation Supported By More Than 7 Out Of 10 Americans, including 61% of Republicans;

C) Many are standing shoulder to shoulder with an unpopular lame duck President who believes his quasi religious belief in his decidedly unChristian political ideology is more important than his responsibility to make sure millions of uninsured American children receive health care;

D) Many are in their last terms as members of Congress; or

E) All Of The Above.

* The original word "embers" was a typo, but on reflection that might be a apt description.




If you answered All of the Above you are correct. Given a choice between nearly all Americans, including 61% of their own party, and an unpopular lame duck President this crowd of cluesless Representatives chose to support the President and the brain dead ideology of Heritage Foundation. If your representative is on the list you might ask him or her why.

Extra credit if you can tell us why Dennis Kucinich is on the list.

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I Believe In The Sanctity of Life, Throw The Embryos In the Trash

We keep forgetting that last November's election in Missouri, the election that was the focus of Bradley Schlozman's voter suppression campaign, was not only about Claire McCaskill and the Democrats, it was also about embryonic stem cell research. Here is a video that you should find interesting. It's fictional, but I think it is accurate.



Oh, if you haven't noticed because of all the Paris Hilton drivel, the stem cell bill sailed through the house last Thursday. The vote was 253 / 174. It takes 290 votes to override the President's veto. If you know a Congressman who is among the 174 you might show him or her the video.

Emptywheel made a comment about covering the Schlozman hearing live I found very telling

I gotta say Schumers unconcealed laughter at Schlozman took the case. It was a refreshing break from the disgust exhibited by Leahy and Whitehouse.

Shumer's right. If you don't find humor in all this absurdity you can't maintain your sanity.

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We'll see your veto and raise you additional restrictions

The Democratic Congress saw the Resident’s recent veto of the war funding resolution and raised the bet by passing an even more restrictive package last night; one that only funds the short term and would require the Useless Tool™ to return to Congress and justify further funding in approximately 60 days.

Another veto is promised, but Congress remained steadfast and defiant, passing the legislation 221 to 205.

Now the Senate must pass a place-holder bill and then committees from each chamber will get together and hammer out the final language of the bill that will be presented to the president.

I gotta admit – the Mom in me is getting a thrill in watching the Congress check the chump. When my kids screwed up, they lost something they had or they didn’t get something they wanted. When the first veto was affixed – on Mission Accomplished Day, no less – I said that every future bill should be more and more restrictive.

I said a while back that he should have to ask my mother for the money to fund this cock-up. And while he’s at it, he should just try telling her that it’s gonna be his way or not at all. She would put her wallet away and say “fine.” And the discussion would be over. Continue to quibble and find yourself performing some unpleasant task. (I always suspected she kept one in reserve to make a point.)

What I found really interesting was the separate bill to mandate withdrawal of all combat forces from Iraq that failed.

Democrats mustered 171 votes for far tougher legislation that would all but end U.S. military involvement in Iraq within nine months. The 255 to 171 vote against that measure meant that nowhere close to a majority backed it, but the fact that 169 Democrats and two Republicans voted for it surprised opponents and proponents alike.

"I didn't think I was going to get anywhere near 171 votes," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the withdrawal bill's chief author. "This is proof that the United States Congress is getting closer to where the American people already are."

The American people are not going to suddenly, at some point over the summer, have an epiphany and rally support for a failed war effort, launched on lies for the vainglorious ego-fluffing of a small, pathetic failed man with Daddy Issues.

That 171 number is like the number of casualties and war dead – it can only go one way.

[Cross-posted from Blue Girl, Red State]

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Showdown at the Chaos Corral

I am starting to think that if I stopped to tote up all the things that are going spectacularly wrong in Iraq right now, and how the State Department exacerbates rather than palliates, I would have to load Excel and devise a flow-chart...

The latest outrage? The government of Nouri al-Maliki is operating a shadowy office that is promoting a radical Shi’ite theocratic agenda. The 24-member office is abusing its power, increasingly overriding decisions made by the Iraqi Ministries of Defense and Interior and most likely undermining the entire U.S. effort in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has created an office within the Iraqi government that U.S. and Iraqi military officials say is being used as a smokescreen to carry out an extreme Shiite agenda that is worsening the country's sectarian divide. "It's people with no power who want to have power," a senior Iraqi army officer told CNN.

If you think that is all there is to it, I have a bridge to sell. Who besides me thinks that the *senior Iraqi Army Officer* quoted is a shill, leaking only what is authorized, and nothing of consequence?

The entire al-Maliki government is structured to implement an extreme Shi’ite agenda. They have seized the levers of power with the intent of keeping all of the oil money. They have embraced Sharia law and religious strictures, and they answer to Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani. Upon Maliki taking office, one of his first official acts was a long trip to Tehran. The Iran-Iraq war ended nearly twenty years ago - but it was not won until the Americans invaded and toppled Saddam.

Some of us recognized what was in store immediately. Our reward, however was not that our warnings were heeded. instead, we were chided for being right and dismissed as "defeat-o-crats." Again. Sigh. (Lemme clear the air - being a realist is not the same thing as being a defeatist.)

This is the government we ostensibly are propping up with the lives of our sons and daughters. Remember, the president doesn’t even waste his beautiful mind investing in conversations with Mr. Maliki. (The lives of your children? He has no problem with that commitment.)Why this Center for American Progress report by Larry Korb didn’t get more attention I’ll never understand. Must be that darned liberal media again...

Nonetheless, here is the money quote:

That evening at dinner, I had an interesting discussion with an Iraqi official who is close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He made several intriguing observations. First, in their video conferences, Maliki and Bush do not really communicate. The official also noted that in his discussions with visiting members of Congress there is really not much dialogue, with both sides giving canned presentations. Second, the U.S. military and State Department do not really work well together and General George Casey would complain to Iraqis about the former U.S. Ambassador to iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. Third, the insurgency got started when the Americans failed to take control after the overthrow and the Iraqis realized that the American military was not invincible—that is, its soldiers were human beings who displayed the full range of emotions, including fear. Fourth, do not believe anyone who tells you that the situation is getting better.

Yet George Bush is willing to sacrifice your children on the altar of his vanity, in perpetuity, and he has the audacity to demand the congress give it to him with no measures of accountability. WTF? That is a huge leap of faith to take when he has been absolutely wrong about absolutely everything for six freakin’ years.

I am, quite frankly, offended he has the gall to even make such an utterly absurd request.

George Bush should have to ask my mother for that money. Hoo boy…

I have had it. There is not a damned thing we can do over there that will come to a good end. The Maliki government is the only governing entity on earth more corrupt, inept and incompetent than the Bush administration. Gee. Maybe that reality has something to do with the fact it is a house of cards and is about to fall?

In light of all of the undeniable bad news out of Iraq right now, I demand the Democrats not merely stand firm on the benchmarks in the bill Bush is determined to veto, but further advance the effort to end the war by defunding this cock-up now. Stick together, and when the bill is delivered later today, deliver it with the warning that this is as good as he can ever hope to get. When it comes back, start with the scrutiny and make him grovel for every penny.

There's more: "Showdown at the Chaos Corral" >>

On to the Senate

.

The House of Representatives has approved the Supplemental, and now the legislation moves on to the Senate where it is expected to pass tomorrow.

It is expected to reach the president on Monday – one day before the fourth anniversary of him standing on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln in front of the “Mission Accomplished” banner and declaring major combat operations over.

Since the mission was declared accomplished, more than 3100 more Americans have lost their lives.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I am frankly offended at the audacity of demanding yet another blank check. It is simply jaw-dropping to me that they would have the stones to suggest they should have all the money they want and by the way, the people who have been wrong about everything, think we should just give them what they want with no strings attached?!?!?!?!? In fact, they would rather take nothing than be accountable?

What. The. Hell.?

Veto it George, you spoiled brat. When it comes back, the Appropriations Committees need to take a fresh look at it too. In fact, they need to go over every penny of it, line-by-line. Especially since we learned this week that half of the $94 Billion you asked for is to be used for other GWOT^® stuff and is basically an end-run around congressional oversight of that spending.

So yeah, veto it. We want you to veto it. We are feeling our Wheaties, George. Get that pen out, and veto the damned thing. Veto it the week of the anniversary of Chimpy McCodpiece and the “Mission Accomplished” banner.

I hope Congress is spoilin’ for a fight to the same degree I am. I am so far beyond “had it” it isn’t even funny.

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