Det kan høres ut som en «technicality», men er noe langt mer alvorlig. Når Kongressen vedtar en lov Bush ikke liker, lager han et unntak, hvor han definerer hvorfor han ikke vil følge loven. Det er ment som en nødløsning, men Bush har anvendt den 800 ganger. Det begynner å minne om undergraving av konstitusjonen.

Over 212 years, 42 presidents issued «signing statements» objecting to a grand total of 600 provisions of new laws. George W. Bush has done that more than 800 times in just over five and a half years in office.
Most presidents used signing statements to get legal objections on the record for judges to consider in any court challenge. For Bush, they are part of a strategy to expand presidential powers at the expense of Congress and the courts. His signing statements have become notices to Congress that he simply does not intend to follow the law, especially any attempt to hold him accountable for his actions.
Some of Bush’s signing statements have become notorious, like the one in which he said he didn’t feel bound by the new law against torturing prisoners. Others were more obscure, like the one in which he said he would not follow a law forbidding the White House to censor or withhold scientific data requested by Congress.

nytimes leder