One Signing Statement Closer to King

WTF:

President Bush, again defying Congress, says he has the power to edit the Homeland Security Department's reports about whether it obeys privacy rules while handling background checks, ID cards and watchlists.

In the law Bush signed Wednesday, Congress stated no one but the privacy officer could alter, delay or prohibit the mandatory annual report on Homeland Security department activities that affect privacy, including complaints.

But Bush, in a signing statement attached to the agency's 2007 spending bill, said he will interpret that section "in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch."

In other words, he’s gutting Congress’ oversight abilities even further and conferring more power upon himself, including the right to interpret the law.

It’s good to be king, bitchez.

As an example of what he’d personally interpret to his own satisfaction, Bush said he would “disregard a requirement that the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency must have at least five years experience and ‘demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management and homeland security.’ His rationale was that it ‘rules out a large portion of those persons best qualified by experience and knowledge to fill the office.’” Yeah, like dudes whose previous experience was running the International Arabian Horse Association. And we all know what a superb job those dudes do.

Respect his authoritay! And his immutable need to fill his administration with useless, ill-prepared, incompetent cronies!