A Legislature of One

As Americans, we're used to poking fun at countries where the legislature--allegedly the will of the people--serves mainly to rubber-stamp the decisions of a powerful executive.

So what to make of this?

"President Bush doesn't like to veto laws," Abrams began. "He doesn't have to. Since he took office, he's been attaching conditions to laws already passed by Congress, allowing him to essentially disobey the will of Congress and dramatically expand his own power."

Bush has issued 1100 signing statements -- almost twice as many as all previous presidents put together -- often completely reversing the intended effect of legislation. For example, when Congress voted overwhelmingly to ban torture, Bush announced that this would "make it clear to the world that this government does not torture." Two weeks later, he added a signing statement to the bill that allowed him to ignore it.

Similarly, when a bill required the Justice Department to report to Congress on the use of the Patriot Act, Bush added a proviso that he could override this requirement any time he thought necessary.

Congress was meant to create the laws, and the Executive to, well, execute them. When the Executive gets to say what the laws mean... or choose which to comply with, there are no checks and balances.

Signing statements: yet another sign the Republic is dead, and has been for a while now.