dc_dux

Dems in the House have introduced three new bills this week in response to specific actions and practices by Bush that have limited access to government information and enabled potential government abuses.

The Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 will nullify a 2001 BUsh presidential executive order (that gave current and former presidents and vice presidents broad authority to withhold presidential records or delay their release indefinitely) and restore public access to presidential records.

The Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007 contains a dozen substantive provisions that will increase public access to government information (that has been repeatedly stalled by Bush agencies) by strengthening the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The “Accountability in Contracting Act” would change federal acquisition law to require agencies to minimize no-bid contracts (which have doubled under Bush) and to increase transparency and accountability in federal contracting

Small steps in government accountability or giant leaps in restoring more open government?

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"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
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Carno

Big or small; who cares as long as they go through..

Willravel

It's a damned good start.

How about the Freedom to Reenact Habeas Corpus Act
or
Freedom to Sack Those Who Bypass FISA Act
or
Freedom of Sacking Those Who Mislead Congress Act?

I should be a Senator.

Rekna

These are a good start. I doubt they will pass until after the 2008 elections though. Bush will veto any of those if the republicans even allow them to get through the senate.

They also need to make one that prohibits signing statements. I'm sorry but the president doesn't get to interpret the law, that is for judges.

Elphaba

Rekna, if these bills pass out of committee, our "representatives" will need to go on record as yay or nay. We the People can judge them based upon how they vote.

Have patience.

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Rekna

Except the republicans in the senate can choose not to allow the debate to stop since 60 votes are needed to end the debate.

Dilbert1234567

I'd vote for you, just so you could get the access you need to figure out that 9/11 really was caused by some pissed off muslin's.

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Willravel

And that'd just be the first day. Imagine what I could do in a week.

Dilbert1234567

no offense to you or your abilities, but not damn much... thats just how lethargic our government works. they waste time on stupid daylights savings time crap... this 3 weeks early crap is going to cost my work several hundred man hours just to get it working properly... save money my ass... (end bitching)

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Willravel

A murderous rampage in the Senate would go a long way. Just saying.

shakran

Might I humbly suggest a fourth law. The Independence of the Press Act. This act would break apart the mass media conglomerate holdings, allowing the press to once again be an independent voice that could hold the government's proverbial feet to the fire without being stifled by their own corporate bosses.

Willravel

You'd have not only my vote, but the votes of a lot of pro-free press people out there still smarting from Reagan's vetoing the Fairness Doctrine.

Lizra

Reagan....I hated that fucker...

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dc_dux

Rekna...the signing statements have not gone unnoticed. The House Judiciary Committee made it one of its first orders of business at an oversight hearing earlier this year

....and John Conyers, the Chairman, intends to kick ass until he gets answers:

Today we are taking up the very important item of Presidential signing statements, which supposedly give him the power to ignore duly enacted laws he has negotiated with Congress and signed into law.

All too often, the Administration has engaged in these practices under a veil of secrecy. This is a constitutional issue that no self-respecting federal legislature should tolerate. And so, we announce that out of this oversight hearing we will today begin an investigation of the specific use and abuse of presidential signing statements.

In particular, I intend to ask the Administration to identify each and every statutory provision they have not agreed with in signing statements, and to specify precisely what they have done as a result. For example, if the President claims he is exempt from the McCain Amendment ban on torture, I want to know whether and where he has permitted it. And we want to know what has he done to carry out his claims to be exempt from many other laws, such as oversight and reporting requirements under the PATRIOT Act, numerous affirmative action obligations, and the requirement that government obtain a search warrant before opening the mail of American citizens.

I am also going to ask my staff, along with Ranking Member Smith’s staff, to meet with the Department of Justice and the White House so we can get to the bottom of this matter, and to be blunt, we are not going to take no for an answer. We are a co-equal branch of government, and if our system of checks and balances is going to operate, it is imperative that we understand how the Executive Branch is enforcing – or ignoring – the bills that are signed into law.

The statement/testimony by former Republican Congressman Mickey Edwards at the hearing is also pretty damning of the Bush practice:

"The question is whether or not the President of the United States is above the law. Because the moment he signs the legislation that is presented to him, it is not merely a proposal; it is the law, and it is binding upon every citizen, whether a taxi driver, a street sweeper, or the President of the United States...

This should be an interesting issue to follow as it works through the oversight process.

As Elph said...have patience...correcting so much wrong-doing over the last six years is not easy

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

reconmike

Reagan, one of the best presidents the US has ever had

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dc_dux

Reagan's legacy to "open government"?
* Iran-Contra
* Financing death squads in El Salvador and Guatemala
* Secretly arming both Iran and Iraq throughtout the 80s

Followed by Bush 41's pardon of Reagan Defense Sec. Casper Weinberger, even before he went to trial, to preserve, as much as possible, any further stain on Reagan record of these less than legal and/or honorable actions .

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

Astrocloud

You failed to mention leaving the 1st Battalion 8th Marines under the US 2nd Marine Division as sitting ducks. After being bombed by terrorists and killing hundreds of Marines; Reagan "Cut and Run". He forever changed the way that terrorists of that region look at us -as cowards who give in to terrorists.