Alito's speech to the Federalist Society (2000) contradicts his testimony.

[Wordie]

JUDGE ALITO'S VIEW OF THE PRESIDENCY: EXPANSIVE POWERS
Court Pick Endorsed Theory of Far-Reaching Authority; Tenet of Bush White House

A Debate Over Terror Tactics

By Jess Bravin

...The Constitution "makes the president the head of the executive branch, but it does more than that," Judge Alito said in a speech to the Federalist Society at Washington's Mayflower Hotel. "The president has not just some executive powers, but the executive power -- the whole thing."

Judge Alito was describing the theory of the "unitary executive," an expansive view of presidential powers that he and his colleagues set forth while working in the Office of Legal Counsel of the Reagan Justice Department. Although the Supreme Court has not always agreed, he said in his speech, "I thought then, and I still think, that this theory best captures the meaning of the Constitution's text and structure."

In 2000, Judge Alito referred to the unitary-executive theory of presidential power as "the gospel according to OLC," a reference to his office in the Reagan Justice Department. The theory has since become the foundation for the current administration's assertions that it has the power to interpret treaties, determine the fate of enemy prisoners, and jail U.S. citizens as enemy combatants without charging them.

While serving on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, the president's first Supreme Court appointee, Chief Justice John Roberts, joined a June 2005 decision that gave Mr. Bush broad authority to try foreigners before military commissions. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal, and if Judge Alito is confirmed, he will help decide the case.

In written statements issued when he signs legislation, Mr. Bush routinely cites his authority to "supervise the unitary executive branch" to disregard bill provisions he considers objectionable. A statement Mr. Bush issued on Dec. 30 when he signed Sen. John McCain's antitorture amendment, for example, said in part that the executive branch "shall construe" a portion of the act relating to detainees "in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power." The statement raised questions among critics of the administration's policies about the extent to which the White House considers itself bound by the legislation.

"At its core, the unitary executive is the notion that the Constitution gives the president the executive power, and it includes the power to superintend and control subordinates in the executive branch," says Northwestern University law professor Steven Calabresi, who helped develop the theory in the Reagan Justice Department and has written extensively on its historical basis.

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/news/article_full.cfm?eventid=2372

[bettyellen]

1. Alito: "The president has not just some .... powers, but the whole thing"

K+R
and cross posted.
I think you should repost with that SCARY comment I pulled.
Very timely indeed.

[Dr.Phool]

2. Yeah, we had it all wrong for over 200 years

We needed Scalito to point that out for us.

[mom cat]

3. There are meny reasons to defeat this nomination, but this takes the cake.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

[MissMarple]

4. K&R

[bettyellen]

5. K+R

tks again wordie!

[KakistocracyHater]

6. he's saying Bush is king

Alito is VERY anti-Constitution. Talk about perverting the very foundation of America, purposely misinterpreting our Constitution!

[Wordie]

7. Yep...I think he was just posturing - saying what his handlers in the WH

told him he needed to say.