Expert please: Why is Bush's APPROVAL needed for Congressional oversight??

[Ian_rd]

Several statements in the following CBS article clearly imply that Congress is unable or unwilling to perform oversight of the Bush Administration's unwarranted spying unless he says it's OK and on his specific terms. Please read this whole article and help me understand WTF is going on.

I've bolded some of these statements.

CBS: Bush Agrees To Wiretapping Review
Bill Would Authorize Court Review For NSA Eavesdropping Program

(CBS/AP)The White House has conditionally agreed to a court review of its controversial eavesdropping program, Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter said Thursday.

Specter said President Bush has agreed to sign legislation that would authorize the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review the constitutionality of the National Security Agency's most high-profile monitoring operations.

"You have here a recognition by the president that he does not have a blank check," the Pennsylvania Republican told his committee.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the administration supports Specter's bill.

"My understanding from the president is that the legislation could be very helpful," Gonzales told reporters. "It would continue to allow the president to gather up information to protect the country."

A White House official says the president will support Specter's proposal "as long as it is not changed," CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports.

Since shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, the NSA has been eavesdropping on the international calls and e-mails of people inside the United States when terrorism is suspected. Breaking with historic norms, the president authorized the actions without a court warrant.

The disclosure of the program in December sparked outrage among Democrats and civil liberties advocates who said Mr. Bush overstepped his authority as president.

Specter said the legislation, which has not yet been made public, was the result of "tortuous" negotiations with the White House since June.

"If the bill is not changed, the president will submit the Terrorist Surveillance Program to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court," Specter said. "That is the president's commitment."

It wasn't immediately clear how strong or enduring the judicial oversight would be.

An administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the bill's language gives the president the option of submitting the program to the intelligence court, rather than making the review a requirement.

The official said that Mr. Bush will submit to the court review as long the bill is not changed, adding that the legislation preserves the right of future presidents to skip the court review.

Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the committee's senior Democrat, said Mr. Bush could submit the program to the court right now, if he wished. He called the potential legislation "an interesting bargain."

"He's saying, if you do every single thing I tell you to do, I'll do what I should have done anyway," Leahy said.

...

Full Story

:wtf:

[baldguy]

1. It isn't. What is needed is a Congress willing to do it's job.

The GOP "unitary executive" we have right now is antiAmerican.

[AndyA]

3. That's exactly right. We need a Congress that has the guts and ethics

to do what it's supposed to do, which is make sure the Executive Branch doesn't trample the Constitution, which is exactly what we have happening right now. We need members of Congress to step up to the plate and be AMERICANS and do what they were supposed to be doing all along.

9/11 had them running scared, terrified of being labeled un-American or a supporter of terrorism if they didn't fall in line with what the Bush Administration wanted. And now that our rights and liberties are being stripped away, we need REAL PATRIOTS to stand up and denounce these actions for the fascism they are!

[Ian_rd]

4. So is this just party loyalty? This is perhaps the strongest statement:

The <anonymous Bush administration> official said that Mr. Bush will submit to the court review as long the bill is not changed, adding that the legislation preserves the right of future presidents to skip the court review.

So, therefore, he may choose NOT to submit?

WHAT THE FUUUUUCK! :grr:

[azurnoir]

2. Guess I was wrong again

I thought Congresses approval was needed for a President to act. Silly me.

[Davis_X_Machina]

5. Because...

...God chose Junta Boy, from before the beginning of all time, to send to America in 2000 as a particular dispensation to save the country from the scourge of fellatio.

The fact that the Chosen one was president on 9/11 means that he didn't surrender to the terrorists like Al Gore would have, thereby allowing Al Qaeda to take over America, outlaw Christianity, and make all American women wear burqas, is just divine-providential icing on the theological cake.

Or at least that's what a neighbor lady -- no slack jawed yokel, either; she has a BA from the flagship campus of our state university, a $70,000/yr job, and a house nicer than I'll ever see -- keeps telling me.

And she heard it from her pastor, so you know it's true.