Signing off

The American Bar Association is after W for his use of signing statements. While I'm no legal scholar, I do agree with their point that it oversteps constitutional provision on three equal branches. The White House contends that W's siging statements clarify the constitutionality of congressional laws, a point clarified by Clinton during his days as the big P.

From a DOJ brief: "If the President may properly decline to enforce a law, at least when it unconstitutionally encroaches on his powers, then it arguably follows that he may properly announce to Congress and to the public that he will not enforce a provision of an enactment he is signing. If so, then a signing statement that challenges what the President determines to be an unconstitutional encroachment on his power, or that announces the President's unwillingness to enforce (or willingness to litigate) such a provision, can be a valid and reasonable exercise of Presidential authority"

So just so I'm clear with Stalin, I'm not saying W invented this, actually Monroe had the first, rather, like most things excess may ruin the fun for everyone.

What I don't understand about signing statements, at least the way I remember civics class, is Congress makes the laws, the Executive enforces them, and the Judicial decides their constitutional legality. So if the Executive is concerned about a Congressional law infringing on it's power, then the Executive should take the law in question to the Court. Thus if the President feels that the anti-torture law passed by Congress infringes on his Commander-in-Chief powers, then he should take it to court. Not say,

"The Executive Branch shall construe [the torture ban] in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary Executive Branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power."

W can't decide the constitutionality of the law, he explicitly does not have the power, before he was "the decider," he was "the enforcer." He can't elevate himself above the courts, and doing so in reference to Congress places the Executive above both of those branches. Not how things work here, at least I hope not.

It's just a weird form of civil disobedience.