Reply #11: Bush is flouting Constitution, bar says

[flamingyouth]

WASHINGTON -- The American Bar Association said Sunday that President Bush was flouting the Constitution and undermining the rule of law by claiming the power to disregard selected provisions of bills that he signed.

In a report, a bipartisan 11-member panel of the bar association said Bush had used so-called "signing statements" far more than his predecessors, raising constitutional objections to more than 800 provisions in more than 100 laws on the ground that they infringed on his prerogatives.

In the report, members said those broad assertions of presidential power amount to a "line-item veto" and improperly deprive Congress of the opportunity to override the veto.

For example, in signing a statutory ban on torture and other national security laws approved by Congress, Bush reserved the right to disregard them.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/278588_bar24.html