Will 2009 Bring a Re-Balance of Power?

[babylonsister]

Will 2009 Bring a Re-Balance of Power?
Congress Weighs Whether, and How, to Reign in Executive Authority
By Mike Lillis 9/17/08 9:09 AM


Pointing to the Bush years as a dark age in the annals of abusive executive might, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) called Tuesday for the next president to denounce the last decade’s White House power grab and return the notion of legal accountability to Pennsylvania Ave.

The push is just the latest in a series of moves by congressional Democrats to rein in the executive branch, whose go-it-alone approach has sparked myriad controversies in the past eight years. Feingold’s effort is unique in that, instead of targeting the Bush administration directly, he hopes to make its tactics an example — warning policy-makers of the dangers of unilateral White House decision-making.

Applying the lessons, however, might not be as easy as the Wisconsin Democrat hopes. The separation-of-powers debate — ignited during the Nixon administration nearly four decades ago — resurfaced in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, when Congress, in effect, enabled the White House to conduct its global war on terror however it pleased. That absence of congressional — and, at times, even judicial — oversight allowed the Bush administration to skirt federal and international laws in ways that many critics, including Feingold, have deemed unprecedented.

Seven years later, the pendulum is swinging back ever-so-slowly. But Feingold, the chairman the Senate Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee, who convened a hearing on executive power Tuesday, hopes to expedite that process by convincing the next president that the re-empowerment of Congress is vital for the national health.

“One of the most important things that the next president must do, whoever he may be, is take immediate and concrete steps to restore the rule of law in this country,” Feingold said. “He must make sure that the excesses of this administration don’t become so ingrained in our system that they change the very notion of what the law is.”

more...

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/6159/will-2008-bring-a-re-balance-of-power

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. I have my realtor looking at caves...

[babylonsister]

2. ...

made me laugh! What a vision! :D

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

4. My real reaction to the piece:

Dems rein in Executive power in order to be investigated to shit.

Pugs abuse Executive power to the limits.

Rule of law. What does it mean if it is partitioned out in inequal portions? Answer: Nothing

[BR_Parkway]

3. Sorry Russ - that job belongs to the current Congress - not the next POTUS

Now go across the street to Nancy's office, flog her about the head and shoulders until she "gets it" and then we'll be on the way to restoring the rule of law.

On your way back to your office, stop by the Sgt-at-Arms and have him go pick up Meyers, Rove, Bolton and anyone else who's ignoring Congressional subpoenas and throw them in the jail to be bought forward to begin their requested testimony tomorrow morning.