Although George Bush had publicly wished that the United States was a dictatorship, he has certainly done his best to make that a reality. Signing statements, pushing for retroactive immunity and starting wars are all part of his legacy. The undermining of the Constitution and the country have not gone unnoticed, particularly by Senators Feingold and Whitehouse, who are now trying to do something about it, at least in this one regard.
From RawStory:
"No one disputes that a President can withdraw or revise an Executive Order at any time," Feingold said as he introduced the bill Thursday. "But abrogating a published Executive order without any public notice works a secret change in the law."
"Because the published Order stays on the books, it actively misleads Congress and the public as to what the law is," he said.
Feingold said the new bill would eliminate that problem by requiring a notice of any change within 30 days, though it "does not require the publication of any classified information."
"On rare occasions, national security can justify elected officials keeping some information secret," he said, "but it can never justify lying to the American people about what the law is. Maintaining two different sets of laws, one public and one secret, is just that -- deceiving the American people about what law applies to the government's conduct."
Oh Senator Feingold, don't you realize that lying to the American people is what George Bush does best? This is a good step on Senator Whitehouse and your part, but we'll see if the full Senate actually approves it and dares to show some sort of spine in front of the President. One thing is for sure, Republicans won't go along with it, and that means either it won't make it to the President or even if it does, he won't sign it (duh) and a veto override would be impossible.
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