The Allen Almanac

The Executive Branch executes, the Legislative Branch legislates, and the Judicial Branch judges, right? Sounds like a lot of trouble. Wouldn’t it be easier if just one branch could do all the work? The Bush Administration seems to think so. There have been over 130 signing statements under the Bush Administration (opposing 807 provisions enacted by Congress - prior to President Bush this had happened about 600 provisions had been opposed - ever). If you don’t know, signing statements are written proclamations from the President issued when a bill is signed into law. President Bush has used these to basically say, “I’ll sign this bill into law, but I have no intention of enforcing it.” In doing so he is overstepping his constitutional bounds. The most blatant move he has made is the signing statement issued when the McCain Detainee Amendment was signed into law. The McCain Detainee Amendment (aka the torture ban) was signed with a statement reserving the President’s right to use torture when he felt it was appropriate - which was the exact thing the law was meant to prevent. The President is free to disagree with a bill; all he has to do is veto it. If Congress can’t come up with a 2/3 vote, it’s gone. This is how our government has worked for over 200 years.

If the President can just ignore any law he doesn’t like, then what is the point of the Legislature? Answer: there isn’t one. Let’s get rid of them. They just get in the way of presidential appointments anyway. Since 1803, judicial review has been the job of the Supreme Court, but apparently the President is willing to relieve them of that duty too. Since we don’t seem to keen on habeas corpus anymore, we don’t need the Courts around to try defendant either. (We can just leave all accused persons locked up indefinitely like Gitmo) So we’ll get rid of the courts too. With all that responsibility in just one branch of the government, we should probably do away with elections every 4 years too. It would take a new President too long to get up to speed, during which time we would be very vulnerable to terrorists. The President can just step down whenever he feels like he should.

If you disagree with me, you should check out this article by Ann Woolner.