Freedom from Alaska!

Nader: President George W. Bush is guilty of at least 5 impeachable offenses that go on day after day

From: VoteNader.org

  1. Criminal use of force against Iraq. The Iraq war was unlawful from the start, and the occupation continues to be unlawful to this day. First, it was a violation of the Constitution, as war was never officially declared by Congress. Second, it was a violation of the UN Charter, as it was not approved in the Security Council, nor did the war amount to an act of “defense” in any reasonable estimation. The war to date has resulted in the deaths of over 1 million Iraqis, over 4,000 U.S. soldiers, and injured and debilitated tens of thousands more.
  2. Condoned and approved systemic torture. Torture is a violation of international treaties and U.S. domestic law. In addition, it has been shown to illicit faulty intelligence, and it makes U.S. military personal vulnerable to torture in turn.
  3. Arresting Americans without charges. Under Bush, and the unconstitutional Patriot Act, thousands of Americans have been arrested without charge and denied their habeas corpus rights. In addition, their conversations with their attorneys have been monitored, violating their attorney/client privilege.
  4. Signing more than 1000 signing statements. George W. Bush has issued the greatest number of signing statements of any president in U.S. history. The signing statement is a provision that dates back to the founding of the country, typically reserved for making rhetorical statements at the time of a bill’s passage into law. Bush has used these statements in a way they were never meant for: to preclude himself from having to follow the laws he signs.The American Bar Association has condemned Bush’s use of signing statements, calling it a violation of the separation of powers defined under the constitution, which only allows a President to either sign or veto a bill; the constitution does not permit a President to obey a law only when they feel like it. …
  5. Systematic spying on Americans without judicial approval. Spying on citizens without judicial approval is a violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).

Read Entire Article

Previous

Michael Moore: “For the money that we’re spending in Iraq in October, we could provide clean drinking water to most of the people that don’t have it”

Next

AUDIO: Ron Paul Supports Bob Bird on Eddie Burke Show, Anchorage, Alaska 10/30/2008

2 Comments

  1. Frank

    Bush has signed 130 signing statements (as of January 2008), not the thousands that you claim. (I think there is ample grounds to impeach Bush, but this is not one of them.) Clinton issued 381 signing statements. Don’t forget to fact check.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signing_statements

  2. Jeff Fenske

    Frank,

    Here is the deal from The American Presidency Project.

    Excerpt:

    Q: I’ve searched your website for George W. Bush’s signing statements and only find about 140. The Boston Globe said there were 750. Where are the rest of them?

    A: In an article published on April 30, 2006 [http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/04/30/bush_challenges_hundreds_of_laws], the Globe wrote that “President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office.” In a clarification issued May 4, 2006, the Globe note that Bush had not really challenged 750 bills (which would have implied 750 signing statements), but “has claimed the authority to bypass more than 750 statutes, which were provisions contained in about 125 bills.”

    Q: Is it true that George W. Bush has issued many more signing statements than any other president?

    A: No, Bill Clinton issued many more signing statements. The controversy is about the kind of signing statements Bush has issued.

    Q: What kind of claims does Bush make in his signing statements that has people upset?

    A: In one frequently used phrase, George W. Bush has routinely asserted that he will not act contrary to the constitutional provisions that direct the president to “supervise the unitary executive branch.” This formulation can be found first in a signing statement of Ronald Reagan, and it was repeated several times by George H. W. Bush. Basically, Bush asserts that Congress cannot pass a law that undercuts the constitutionally granted authorities of the President. …

    Q: Didn’t the American Bar Association declare that Bush’s use of signing statements was unconstitutional?

    A: In July 2006, an ABA “Blue Ribbon Task Force”—not “The ABA”—found that these presidential assertions of constitutional authority “undermine the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers.” The report of the bipartisan commission, which relied on the American Presidency Project database, can be found here: http://www.abanet.org/media/docs/signstatereport.pdf

    Q: What does the ABA Task Force say the president should do if he thinks a bill passed by congress includes unconstitutional provisions?

    A: Veto the bill.

    Jeff Fenske

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén