Senator considers suit over Bush law challenge (Specter)

Boston Glob ^ | 6/28/06

[hipaatwo]

WASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Arlen Specter, said yesterday that he is ``seriously considering" filing legislation to give Congress legal standing to sue President Bush over his use of signing statements to reserve the right to bypass laws.

Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, made his comments after a Judiciary Committee hearing on signing statements, which are official documents that Bush has used to challenge the constitutionality of more than 750 laws when signing legislation .

Bush has issued more signing statements than all previous presidents combined. But he has never vetoed a bill, depriving Congress of any chance to override his judgment. If Congress had the power to sue Bush, Specter said, the Supreme Court could determine whether the president's objections are valid under the Constitution.

``There is a sense that the president has taken the signing statements far beyond the customary purviews," Specter said at the hearing. He added that ``there's a real issue here as to whether the president may, in effect, cherry-pick the provisions he likes, excluding the provisions he doesn't like. . . . The president has the option under the Constitution to veto or not."

But a lawyer for the administration, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michelle Boardman, testified that Bush has shown Congress respect by using signing statements instead of vetoes when he has concerns about parts of bills.

[hipaatwo]

HAIR BURNING PING!

[Incorrigible]

Hey Karl!! This is what you get when you back the wrong horse!

[HarleyLady27]

OMG this idiot is embassing....come on PA. voters, lets file for centure of spect-ail....he doesn't need to be there...lets get someone in there that can do the job....

[new yorker 77]

Specter is a DOUCHE.

[11th Commandment]

This is interesting from a constitutional perspective.

[P-40]

If Congress does not like how the President interprets a law...then perhaps they should make a new law that is more clear on the intent of Congress in passing the law in the first place

[ConorMacNessa]

With "friends" like this, who needs enemies?

[NeoCaveman]

Hey Karl!! This is what you get when you back the wrong horse!

I hope he has a well developed sense of irony, lol.

[cotton1706]

But we can't say anything against RINOs! Because that would just be mean-spirited and not nice. /sarc.

[Huck]

I agree with you. Specter is all about the Senate and its prerogatives.

[Jameison]

"The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Arlen Specter, said yesterday that he is ``seriously considering" filing legislation to give Congress legal standing to sue President Bush over his use of signing statements to reserve the right to bypass laws. "

# 1. How is Sphincter going to get such stupid bill past The House?

And # 2. When is Sphincter the jerk going to comdemn The Slimes for giving our vital national security secrets to Al Quaeda, let alone bring in legislation to give congress the power to sue The Slimes?

Sphincter is is just so pathetic.

[Ron in Acreage]

Sphincter expects Bush to roll over and rubber stamp every possibly unconstitutional law he passes? Good for Bush. I thought the senator loved "checks and balances".

[pissant]

Good. Give it a try, you POS Arlen.

[newconhere]

agree. This is just chit chat in front of cameras, right?

[Sonny M]

This is interesting from a constitutional perspective.

In a very bad way.

Signing statements have been around since George Washington, the gripe with Bush is that, he uses them far more often, and in different ways, and voices concerns allowing for them to be used to strike down parts of a bill.

Congress, threatening to sue Bush is upsetting to the balance of powers, and would open the door at some point to vice versa.

[The South Texan]

One of the biggest mistakes of the 2004 campaign. Specter should have been allowed to lose by the White House. He is the ultimate RINO.

[new yorker 77]

Specter sees the Alito/Roberts problem - He helped get CONSERVATIVES WITH SPINE ON THE COURT.

[bmwcyle]

Spector is a piece of S*&T.

[Pox]

"depriving Congress of any chance to override his judgment"

This is what is really irking Specter and the rest of those in congress that believes its power "trumps" the executive in almost every aspect, IMO. The Senate in particular seems to believe that they are the ultimate authority on any given subject and the junk legislation that encroaches upon both the Executive and Judicial branches seems to bear that out.

Specter seems to think the HE runs the country, IMO.