The Boston Globe has an article by Charlie Savage - the journalist whose investigation first brought President Bush's use of signing statements to light - about the various positions by Democratic and Republican candidates on executive powers. Here are a few of the most direct answers to critically important questions that the tenure of the Bush administration has raised to date.
4. Under what circumstances, if any, would you sign a bill into law but also issue a signing statement reserving a constitutional right to bypass the law?
Never. If I thought it was unconstitutional, I would turn to the Courts, which is what our founding fathers expected and provided for in cases of Executive-Congressional differences.
5. Does the Constitution permit a president to detain US citizens without charges as unlawful enemy combatants?
No.
6. Does executive privilege cover testimony or documents about decision-making within the executive branch not involving confidential advice communicated to the president himself?
No.
What's remarkable, I think, is that Senator Dodd's dedication to upholding the Constitution and the balance of powers requires this sort of answer to these sorts of questions, though you won't see the GOP candidates or top Republican talking heads giving the same consideration to these issues. Standing up for the rule of law makes us more safe at home. We need a President who will stand up for these issues, even if it means rolling back some of the powers and practices used by the Bush administration in contravention to the Constitution and at the expense of the balance of powers between the executive, legislative, and judiciary branch.
You can read Senator Dodd's full response to the Globe's questionnaire here.
Emptywheel, Marty Lederman at Balkinization, The Anonymous Liberal, and Glenn Greenwald have more on the Globe's survey.
Comments
There are really only two points to make about Romney.
1) He's a devoted member of an autocratic religion, the Mormon Church, so one should expect him to favor an autocratic state. Since the United States have a democratic system of government where power resides with the people, rather than their designated leaders, Romney's clearly not suited to being President of the United States.
2) The Mormon Church is also a rather secretive organization. Which suggests that secrecy appeals to Romney, as well. Since a Democracy is dependent on openness and continual inspection by the public it is designed to serve, Willard Romney is clearly not suited to being President in that regard either.
Additionally, although this is not covered in the current review of attitudes towards executive power, I think it's worth pointing out that the enterprise experience Romney claims for himself, is mainly derived from the manipulation of capital and financial assets, rather than from the production of valuable goods and services. In some circles, Romney would be described as a vulture financier who thrives on the destruction or failure of what others have built up or created.
Chris Dodd is a greatly qualified candidate and he is surely going to accomplish great things as president as he has as a senator. Check out the post at www.wakeuplate.com about the qualified candidates for president and the unqualified frontrunners.
George Will mentioned Charles Savage in his write up about Christopher Dodd last August in Newsweek. His Essay: "Why Voters Should Listen To Chris Dodd" was an eye opener to say the least. Will was verying interested in Dodd's upcoming book at the time, "Letters From Nuremburg". The book is centered around Senator Dodd's father's work as a prosecutor of the ultimate war criminals at Nuremberg in 1945 and 1946. The book contains letters that Dodd's father wrote to his mother during the 15 month trial.
First, Will quoted Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, "his opening statement delivered in a city reeking from the decomposition of 30,000 bodies still buried in the rubble" Jackson said: "That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury, stay the hand of vegence and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to THE JUDGEMENT OF LAW is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason."
Dodd told Will: "Nuremburg was the place where America's moral authority in the second half of the 20th Century was born." Dodd told Will "that perishable resource has been squandered by the Bush administration decisions inimical to the Constitution and international law.
Will noted Charlie Savages book, "Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy" is in step with Dodd's message about the Bush administration's assault on the moral authority of America.
Will wrote in August: "Contrary to the Constitution's mandate that the president "shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed", the current president, much more than any other,has issued "signing statements"-essentially, line-item vetoes, which are unconstitutional-to tell the executive branch that some provision of bills he signs into law need not be enforced for constitutional or POLICY reasons. Will then quoted Savage: "If a president has the power to instruct the government not to enforce laws that he alone has declared to be unconstitutional, then he could free himself from the need to OBEY laws that restrict his own actions".
Will notes "the Bush admininstration claims, (in disgust) not merely INHERENT but EXCLUSIVE presidential powers to:
"1. Treat all of America as a battlefield on which even American Citizens can be declared "enemy combatants" seized and held indefinitely, and intelligence can be collected by any means the president orders.
"2. Disregard-or interpret into nullities-provisions of the Geneva Conventions, the Convention against Torture or US laws that inhibit the president from acting as "sole organ" of the nation regarding national security. "
Will predicted in August that if Dodd could convey a message about "how a swollen presidency threatens the constitutional balance between the two political branches of government, that message might resonate."
Well the messaage has resonated with me! The message was loud and clear last Monday, on the floor of the Senate. The message was loud and clear to me when Senator Dodd fought to restore habeas corpus earlier in this campaign.
One unfortunate note about Bill Richardson, a good guy. He wants a line item veto as president. I don't think so Bill. Never, not in this Country. We have three equal branches of government. The Democratic Party needs to be the Party that protects the Constitution and keeps America as a nation with Rule of Law!
hi reply
Is very good!!!