rssSigning Statements Take Heat Off War Contractors
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 1:40 pm
- 3 Comments
With little fanfare yesterday, President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008, which lays out $696 billion in Pentagon spending. The President publicly praised some parts of the bill, like a 3.5 percent pay raise for the troops, but he didn’t like other things. So he’s going to ignore them.
In a White House press release, Bush cited four provisions of the bill that “could inhibit the President from carrying out constitutional obligations…as Commander in Chief.” That includes Section 841, which sets up a commission on wartime contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The eight-member commission would be appointed by the President and Congress to investigate federal agency’s practice in handing out contracts, and waste, fraud and abuse committed by private contractors.
So the Justice Department and Congress’s House Oversight Committee will continue with probes into how specific contractors like Blackwater and Haliburton have profited from Iraq. But it looks like there will not be a tidy, comprehensive independent commission report detailing the relationships established between these companies and the Departments of State and Defense.
3 Comments
Comment posted January 30, 2008 @ 5:35 am
What happened to the White Correspondent, Helen Thomas, who used to call ANY President’s hand on his bullshit operations???????????????
Was she bought off, or did they retire her to Guantanamo.
WHY DOES BUSH "STILL GET A FREE RIDE"?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Comment posted January 29, 2008 @ 5:05 pm
Given the fact that the signing statement has become the method by which the ruling class has determined that it will rule, I find it ridulous that the dems give this lame duck group the opportunity to continue to use this disgraceful practice. There is no excuse for them to continue to send bills to this group. They should be denying these lame ducks the ability to employ this practice.
The tragedy is going to be seen from a historical point of view that the opposition does not truly exist. And it appears that they are being ruled by fear! It is extremely sad and pathetic. Oh well, they are all the same.
Comment posted January 29, 2008 @ 3:26 pm
What are the other three provisions he objects to? Many people have a concern about the repeal of the FY 2007 Defense Authorization Act’s modification of authorities to use the armed forces in major public emergencies. See Sec. 1022 of H.R. 1585 for the repeal. The 2007 Act appeared to give the President carte blanche to use the armed forces for any domestic use he deemed necessary, i.e., to declare martial law before the next election. Nothing is too far fetched to consider possible with the Bush/Cheney cabal.
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