WTF is a signing statement, you ask?

Did you know that President Bush hasn’t vetoed a single bill since taking office six years ago? How the heck does he manage that kind of congenial record with the most irritatingly partisan congress in history? I’ll tell you how: presidential singing statements.

Basically a signing statement is a brief note attached to a bill when the president signs it, which tells the congress how the Executive interprets the language of the bill. Sounds fair enough, right? Here’s an example dealing with one of my least favorite laws, The PATRIOT Act.

The law: Justice Department officials must give reports to Congress by certain dates on how the FBI is using the USA Patriot Act to search homes and secretly seize papers.

Signing statement: The president can order Justice Department officials to withhold any information from Congress if he decides it could impair national security or executive branch operations.

The addition essential negates the law, returning authority to the Executive to do as he pleases.

Granted form presidents have also used these statements, that doesn’t make them less offensive to the idea of our republican democratic system. During the present administration they seem to deal often with alleged national security exemptions. Here’s my favorite example:

The law: Forbids US troops in Colombia from participating in any combat against rebels, except in cases of self-defense. Caps the number of US troops allowed in Colombia at 800.

Signing statement: Only the president, as commander in chief, can place restrictions on the use of US armed forces, so the executive branch will construe the law ”as advisory in nature.”

Essentially a big screw you to the people’s elected representatives from the commander-in-chief of America’s armed forces.