Yesterday, the Vice President's position that he is not subject to laws and executive orders on classified information finally made it to the mainstream press. He has taken this position before, in failing to provide lists of employees. The "rationale" offered for this is that the VP is neither part of the Executive Branch, nor the legislative branch, but is uniquely part of both and is subject to the laws and rules of neither. See Congressional inquiry on this point: http://www.speaker.gov/...
So, is the VP really more powerful than the President? And why would President Bush put up with this? Well....he's been here before...in Texas.
Let's take a look....
Remember that under the Texas Constitution, the most important official is not the governor (who has very limited powers), but the lieutenant governor (who has independent powers over numerous agencies and controls the state budget). The governor signs the pardons (or not), makes the speeches, is the public face. The lieutenant governor holds the actual power. http://en.wikipedia.org/...
So...is the VP accountable to the President?
Well...not under the Texas model of governance....
And I guess we're all Texans now.