CNN's Carlos Watson on Bush's SS "secret weapon"...Executive Order

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/03/29/ace.up.sleeve/index.html

But as the Social Security debate continues to unfold, do not underestimate President Bush's ability to still get his ideas enacted. Indeed, even without broad Congressional or public support, President Bush just may have an ace up his sleeve. How might he enact his private accounts idea without such support, you may ask? By executive order.

Indeed, the Constitution has long provided the president with a certain amount of unilateral power to make policy. And from George Washington to George W. Bush, that power has frequently been used when presidents have felt stymied by Congress or the courts. Among some of the notable presidential directives (a broader category of unilateral presidential power that includes executive orders, proclamations, pardons, national security directives and more) are: the Louisiana Purchase, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Japanese Internment Camps.

When President Clinton failed to get his health care plan passed in the mid-1990s, he experimented with portions of his program via executive order.

Similarly, if President Bush ultimately fails to persuade Congress (especially centrist Senators) to back his private account plan, he may sign an executive order for a smaller version of his plan, such as allowing federal employees to experiment with a heavily regulated form of private accounts. It clearly would not be his first choice. He'd rather enact a broad national plan, passed by Congress and signed by him. But if he cannot get Congressional passage of an overall Social Security change plan (or even just the private account portion), President Bush just may use the executive order route to ensure that a test version is put into effect.

[meegbear]

1. This "reporter" is a right-wing suckup ...

* could unleash a virus killing tens of thousands and he'd priase him his actions for lowering the unemployment rate.

[Ganja Ninja]

2. Oh goody! Go ahead and do it Bush.

Please issue an executive order. Make my day.

[Justitia]

9. I'm with you. Just do it, W - go ahead & stick your finger in the socket

[Me.]

3. Is There Any Way An Executive Order

can be overturned? Like ***H did to the Clinton environmental initiatives?

[pnorman]

6. Yes.

But he'll have to be replaced (hopefuly by impeachment) by another Chief Executive; one acting in behalf of the Citizen rather than the corporation.

pnorman

[Toots]

14. You impeach Bush* and who do you get? Cheney.....

I think you could go right down the succession list and they just get worse..Throw the damn voting machines in the bay and hold a real election/ Paper ballots read by people..election judges Machines do make mistakes More than one person has to verify results as compared to only one Diebold machine. Literally.. I mean literally, throw the damn machines in the bay.. a modern day Boston Tea Party..

[pnorman]

17. You're right of course.

I didn't think it out all that carefully. But the point I was trying to make was that only another Chief Executive (or the Supreme court) could undo an Executive Order of a preceding one. That Bush cheerfuly did that, and with a NEGATIVE mandate, shows him to be an arrogant churl.

And I like that idea of a Boston Tea (Diebold) Party.

pnorman

[Stand and Fight]

20. No...

Both Congress and the Court can alter or invalidate an executive order. However, normally executive orders are for SIMPLE policy purposes -- not law and they have never been on controversial issues like social security. You can site Roosevelt and WWII, but that was controversial AFTER the fact. Here you go:

"The President can retract an EO at any time. The President may also issue an EO that supersedes an existing one. New incoming Presidents may choose to follow the EOs of their predecessors, replace them with new ones of their own, or revoke the old ones completely. In extreme cases, Congress may pass a law that alters an EO, and the Supreme Court can declare them unconstitutional."

See:
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa121897.htm

[Stand and Fight]

16. Yes.. Read the article.

Executive orders have been overturned before -- it even cites specific examples in recent history. Case in point:

"Critics of executive orders note that Congress and the courts rarely overturn such directives, thereby raising the specter of unchecked, un-reviewed and potentially even presidential abuse of power. Indeed, the Supreme Court has only overturned an executive order twice and Congress a mere four times in the past century. Perhaps in part because of this leeway, Harvard political scientist William Howell estimates that since FDR, presidents have increased use of unilateral power in significant areas by a factor of four."

[pnorman]

19. OOPS!! I missed that!

However in the days before Bush 43, the media wasn't anywhere as NEAR whorish, nor the citizenry (by and large) so apathetic.

I don't think he'll try that, since it isn't so central to his agenda. But IF he were to do so, you can bet your sweet patootie that "terrorists" will somehow be invoked.

pnorman

[jojo54]

4. Keep on pushing, chimpy boy

Keep on pushing. One of these days, somebody is gonna wake up to the shit you, Frist, Cheney, DeLay, Rice, Rove and all the others in the hoard are doing and the trees are gonna be cut down right from under your sorry ass selves.

edit-then maybe your forestation legislation will come back to haunt you, ya prick.

[RobertSeattle]

5. Always love it when they use the "but Clinton did it too" excuse

[Justitia]

8. Yes and try to de-slime it, by incl Louisiana Purch & Emanc Proc -eom

[whistle]

7. That would be a poison pill for all republicans unless Bush....

...takes that a step further by declaring martial law and insisting that all future elections be by appointment only and that he take supreme power. That is also quite possible based on the actions of this president and the majority party during the last four years.

[jojo54]

11. That could happen if the filibuster bill goes thru

He would love to enact a law about elections. That way he can control them the same way he controls all his press conferences, campaign rallies and town hall meetings - repukes only allowed!

[jojo54]

12. Here's an example

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1694867

I think I linked this thread correctly. It's current. But this just goes to show how * controls who, what, where, when and how his issues get attention.

[SaveElmer]

10. Bad examples...

The Louisiana Purchase was agreed to by Jefferson, but the money still had to be supplied by Congress. The Emancipation Proclamation, and the Japanese Internments were military measures at a time of war. Clinton's efforts with health care only applied to federal employees. Bush will not be able to enact widespread changes to social security by executive order....Watson needs to do more research before he writes ridiculous things like this!

[Arkana]

13. Wasn't it an "Executive Order"

that Palpatine used to turn the Republic into the Galactic Empire? :scared:

[Stand and Fight]

18. No...

He claims the Jedi are enemies of the Republic first, and then says that he is ushering in a new era -- an era of empire. The Senate praises him for it, and in the beginning of Star Wars: A New Hope he dissolves the Senate and takes full control. However, the parallels between Palpatine and Bush have been noted and talked about -- especially in relation to the current state of things in this country.

[Stand and Fight]

15. The truth:

Bush would distort the true meaning of an executive order into a dictate of his ideas. He would be going against the wishes of Congress and the American people if he were to use this "ace." It would be a clear abuse of his power as president, and if we, as true patriots, allow such a thing to pass then the republic has surely fallen.