KING GEORGE Pulls A Fast One - January 3,. 2006

[blueButGlad]

With the start of a new year, take some time to look back. Today's 'On this date in Bush history...'

"The magistrate should obey the Laws; the People should obey the magistrate" Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1734

President Bush makes a pitch for renewal of the Patriot Act a year ago today.

The renewal of the Patriot Act by Congress was a difficult fight for Bush’s people, as many legislators were concerned about striking the proper balance between giving the government the tools to fight terrorism and protecting citizen’s privacy. To ease the minds of those who worry that the Act gives the Executive Branch too much power without enough oversight of the use of that power President Bush states, "There's oversight on this important program".

The renewal of the Patriot Act eventually passes. To gain Congressional support, provisions were added requiring the Justice Dept. to report to Congress on the FBI’s use of the act to search people’s homes and seize documents.

Perhaps thinking that he was King George and not president, the Boston Globe revealed that Mr. Bush had quietly signed a statement in March 2006 indicating that he could withhold such information if he decides that this reporting could harm the executive branch’s operations or national security. In effect, President Bush was saying that the oversight provisions he allowed to be put into the law in order to get it passed could be ignored once the law took effect.

Representatives Jane Harman (House Intelligence committee) and John Conyers Jr. (Judiciary committee) would later write the administration, pointing out that "Many members who supported the final law did so based upon the guarantee of additional reporting and oversight. The administration cannot, after the fact, unilaterally repeal provisions of the law implementing such oversight ... Once the president signs a bill, he and all of us are bound by it". Their protests to the administration would seem to fall on deaf ears.

"I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well." President Bush, thoughtfully worried about setting precedents that could harm previous presidencies should a time machine be invented, January 29th 2001

'ON THIS DATE IN BUSH HISTORY: THE FAREWELL TOUR!' - FINAL WEEK!

Excerpt from the Jan 3rd and Mar 9th entries of the 2007 calendar www.poorGeorgesAlmanac.com - relive the laughs! relive the pain!