fwd
--- Begin Message ---
Bush Moves To Create An Imperial Presidency, Or Is It The Dictatorship He Has Pined
For?
http://detnews.com/2002/politics/0205/20/a03-494211.htm
>From the Detroit News
Bush out to beef up presidency
Critics claim office is more potent now than at any time in recent history.
By Bill Straub / Scripps Howard News Service
Bill Clark / Scripps Howard News Service
WASHINGTON -- It's not a bad job considering it comes with a rent-free mansion and
door-to-door limousine service, but President Bush maintains that the position he
holds as the leader of the free world should come with an additional perk -- power.
Bush says the inherent powers of the presidency have eroded to an unsettling degree
over the past 30 years and he is moving to reclaim the lost prerogatives of the
nation's highest office. He has drawn a distinct line that he has suggested no one
dare cross.
"I have an obligation to make sure that the presidency remains robust and that the
legislative branch doesn't end up running the executive branch," Bush said.
Ari Fleischer, the president's press secretary, said presidential powers have been
diminished "in multiple ways" as part of a "long-standing, gradual process." The
president has little say in how the nation's budget is devised and constraints exist
over how he uses the military.
Congress also has placed restrictions on the president in military matters with the
War Powers Resolution of 1973, Fleischer said. And the spate of congressional
investigations into administration activities, particularly during the Clinton era,
which involved "the sharing, the yielding of information by the executive branch to
the Congress," has tended to weaken the office.
Critics counter that the administration's effort is nothing more than a thinly
veiled power grab and that the office of the president is more potent now than at any
time in recent memory. Bruce Fein, a former Justice Department official who worked in
several Republican administrations, said the United States "has never had a more
imperial presidency, at least since (President Franklin D.) Roosevelt during his
conduct of World War II."
"What the president is claiming is legally and historically absurd and politically
stupid," Fein said.
Mark Racicot, appointed by Bush to be chairman of the Republican National
Committee, said the time has come for the president to reclaim lost authority because
"the ability of the president to carry on communications and get unvarnished advice
has eroded over a period of time."
Fein said that while it's appropriate to cite national security at times, it's
ridiculous to claim that anyone will be inhibited by his or her communications with
the president if the information is made public.
"He (Bush) hasn't pointed to a single case," Fein said. "I've been around this town
a long time, almost 30 years, and I've never encountered one individual who told me
he's not going to the Oval Office unless he's promised confidentiality. It's the
biggest hoax in the world. Why he's making up all this stuff is utterly and completely
baffling."
Our list is opt-IN only.
PO Box 618354
Chicago, IL 60661-8354
To remove yourself from further mailings, please click the link below to unsubscribe.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This email powered by EmailFactory
The Web-Based Precision Opt-In Email Marketing Solution.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>
To UNSUBSCRIBE from this mailing list, go to:
<a
href="http://bye.emf3.com/handler.cfm?idAddress=L9635656637.38470";>http://bye.emf3.com/handler.cfm?idAddress=L9635656637.38470
</a>
If you are unable to click, copy and paste this URL into your browser:
http://bye.emf3.com/handler.cfm?idAddress=L9635656637.38470
--- End Message ---
