Bush now has authority to sign into law bills that Congress never passed.

[kpete]

Suit Dismissed Challenging Law That House Never PassedAug 11, 2006 — By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday dismissed a consumer group's lawsuit against a new law cutting domestic spending programs by $39 billion.

.........................

In this case, President Bush signed the version only passed by the Senate.

....................

The Senate bill set a 13-month limit on Medicare payments for the rental of medical equipment like wheelchairs. Due to a clerk's error, the House bill set a 36-month limit. Medicare is the federally backed health insurance plan for the elderly.

The error carried an estimated $2 billion discrepancy.


Despite the clerical problem, Republican leaders decided against having both chambers vote on a new, unified version of the legislation because of the difficulty passing the bill and some Republicans' continuing discomfort with cutting programs for the poor in an election year.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2303042

August 11 - DRA court decision lets constitutional violation stand
Statement of Adina Rosenbaum, Attorney, Public Citizen Litigation Group


Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has allowed an unconstitutional act to stand by issuing an order dismissing Public Citizen v. Clerk, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Public Citizen filed suit in March to challenge the constitutionality of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 because the House of Representatives passed a different version of the bill than that which was signed into law by the president. We are disappointed in the decision, which allows a blatant violation of the Constitution to go unaddressed. The court’s decision gave an overly broad reading to Marshall Field v. Clark, an 1892 case addressing whether congressional journals could be used to demonstrate that a bill did not pass Congress, and gave insufficient weight to a recent Supreme Court decision that undermined that broad reading. We plan to appeal, and hope that the Court of Appeals will address the constitutional violation at issue here.

To read the court's decision, click here.
http://www.citizen.org/documents/DRAmemorandumopinion.pdf
via:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/8/12/1343/24625

[Redstone]

1. How fucking nice. Thanks for the post. Now, what was bush saying

about "activist judges" being a bad thing?

Redstone

[City Lights]

7. He's against activist judges, but activist presidents are ok.

Just so long as the activist president is him. He is the decider.

:nuke:

[Redstone]

8. Or judges who are "activist" in HIS favor.

He'll like this decision.

Redstone

[City Lights]

9. So true.

;-)

[Lasher]

12. Yep, he would see this judge as properly active

Improperly active is what any judge is when he opposes the Bush junta.

[Kadie]

2. sigh n/t

[annabanana]

3. One more thing to charge him for

When we can put the world to rights...
(nom)

[Tigress DEM]

10. Huh, he thought his old bar tab was bad....

Wait until he gets the settle up bill for all that he owes US.

8.8 billion squandered in Iraq with no paper trail for starters...

[ninkasi]

18. Tigress DEM

I don't think that several lifetimes would be enough for him to repay the harm he has done to our country, and the world. For a man so incompetent to have so much power is truly frightening. If ever a person who seeks power is as unqualified for it as him, I'd love to have a source to check that out. Some people should never, ever, be allowed to have power over even a guppy, much less the USA and the world. The sooner that he and his cronies are out of power, the better.

[grasswire]

4. send to Lou Dobbs

another example of outrageous power grab

[Imagevision]

5. Bush's days are numbered, after elections, he ain't shit!! neither is

Cheney, so expect the Dick to call in on heart probs because with no more power he is more apt to go duck hunting.

[lonestarnot]

15. But people know how to hack the machines. I saw it on the internets!

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Wha-What?

[Selatius]

11. This decision will be appealed, we just have to wait for it

In the meantime, try to nail the Repubs on it by getting them to impale themselves on cutting funding for poor people.

[lala_rawraw]

13. Um, the judge appears to have a pattern

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20021220.html

[Supersedeas]

20. just a coincidentie that this matter appeared on his docket????

Another name like Katherine Harris and Judith Miller that will forever be associated with the misAdministration.

[Eric J in MN]

14. Republicans are ripping up the Constitution. NT

NT

[demgurl]

16. This judge was Ken Starr's right hand man.

That about says it all, doesn't it?

[DemReadingDU]

17. K&R

[progressoid]

19. Time to appeal to the Supreme Court I suppose.

[cosmicdot]

21. appointed by Bu$h** in 2001

In February 2006, he was appointed by Chief Justice Roberts to serve as a judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/bates-bio.html

The FISC oversees requests for surveillance warrants against suspected foreign intelligence agents inside the United States by federal police agencies (primarily the F.B.I.). wikipedia

[deutsey]

22. Bush is the Central Scrutinizer...

it is his responsibility to enforce all the laws that haven't been passed yet.

[aein]

23. this will be appealed...easily I think

[KoKo]

24. John Conyers has a suit against BushCo about a Bill that was never

rectified between House and Senate. And, I think he filed it in Detroit.

I think that this will be appealed up to the Supremes...and we better hope it gets to the Supremes soon because with Bush having 2 and a half years left...we have to figure we might get one or two more right wingers on that Court before he's gone.