Bush Cannot Veto Congressional Vote on War
Tue Sep 18, 2007 at 08:27:17 AM PDT
Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. http://www.usconstitution.net/...
I don't think Junior can veto Congress on a declaration of war vote. The Constitution states that "Congress shall have the power to . . . declare war . . ." Even though we have ignored the Constitutional mandate that Congress declare war since WWII, the Constitution is quite clear and it is time for Congress to follow the Constitution.
Let the Repugs filibuster the constitutionally mandated vote on war. And, if Junior wants to try the veto, then that will really force the issue.
tom brokaw declares war!
Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 08:56:31 AM PDT
MSNBC has been re-broadcasting NBC's live coverage of the 9/11 attacks this morning, synchronizing the coverage time with real time. So, the footage of the North Tower being struck by Flight 11 at 8:46 AM appears at 8:46 EDT today, the South Tower struck by Flight 175 at 9:03, etc. However, if you didn't catch it the first time, Tom Brokaw declared war!
Yoo: War-time powers NOT in effect
Tue May 29, 2007 at 04:35:37 PM PDT
John Yoo Review, part II
In part 1 of my review of John Yoo's book, The Powers of War and Peace, I criticized him for his flawed understanding of history, and of how things today differ from from the last century or two. In this article, my focus is more his reasoning and analysis of history. I think that the inescapable conclusion of this review is that even if we accept his premises and his reasoning we find that he provides arguments that directly contradict the doctrines and actions of the Bush administration.
Who's in control? Congress and the Constitution or the precedent ?
Tue May 15, 2007 at 06:50:43 AM PDT
How should the Congress react to the President telling it what to do?
Is it Bush or the special interests behind him using the Courts and their
precedents to take control of the government away from we the people?
Constitutionally Congress comes first. Article I Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
That would seem to mean that Congress legislates, while the President and the Supreme Court are governed by the legislation passed by Congress.
Article I, Section 8 gives Congress certain enumerated powers to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
Both the President and the Supreme Court are obligated to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Their opinions are not laws. Laws come from the Congress.
more below the fold...
Senator Robert Byrd D-West Virginia
Wed Jan 24, 2007 at 11:45:55 AM PDT
"I am introducing a resolution which says that it is the Congress, the Congress!, The CONGESS!!! and not the President which decides when to comit our nation to a war against a foreign nation." ...
more below the fold...
Declaration of War on American Citizens?
Sun Nov 12, 2006 at 03:20:45 PM PDT
But it is not only our clients who are in jeopardy under this new legislation. Americans need to remember the sweeps and mass detentions after September 11, 2001, when thousands of noncitizens were rounded up and treated as terrorists--which none of them turned out to be. Habeas corpus was their remedy; they could go to court and force the Administration to justify their detentions. Now noncitizens can be rounded up, detained forever and never get their case into a court.
More on the other side. . .
Get Your War On (To Win the Unwinnable War...)
Thu Aug 24, 2006 at 02:41:58 AM PDT
Have you ever noticed that whenever America makes war, a war
declared in the media and not in
Congress, a war against a word, an idea, a state of mind, a condition, or a category of nebulously defined behaviors, substances, or political entities, instead of a war declared and waged against a nation or nations, that these
Wars On are conflicts which America never wins, or at least is rarely if ever the clear victor? That, in fact, these
Wars On never really end, though such wars may subside and flare up, are occasionally discretely abandoned by their sponsors, or else we declare victory and withdraw, just like
Reagan withdrew the Marines from Lebanon in 1984.
Can Congress ask for an end to a war?
Thu Jun 01, 2006 at 09:00:48 PM PDT
If the President has to ask Congress to start a war, can Congress also ask the President to end a war? Can Congress do that and supercede the wishes of the Commander in Chief and the Sec. of Defense?
Is there anything in the books that would allow Congress to do that?
Take the Pledge - "Stop the War!"
Wed May 03, 2006 at 10:51:02 AM PDT
The United States Constitution states very clearly how the nation goes to war. Congress should pass a Declaration of War. Call your Senators and Representatives immediately! Tell them that if the United States plans to attack Iran, Congress must declare war. Tell them, also, that if Iran is attacked without a formal declaration of war, you will participate in coordinated protest actions to bring the nation to a standstill.
The last time Congress declared war was in World War II. There are ongoing debates about whether Congress must declare war. The reality is that members of Congress do not want to take the political heat back home. Back door resolutions for the use of force such as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 or the Iraq Authorization for the Use of Military Force in 2002 relieve members of Congress from the onus of having led the nation into war. They provide patriotic cover while offering deniability.
Request for the Press Corps.
Tue Apr 11, 2006 at 11:41:30 PM PDT
If someone from the Whitehouse press corps is reading this, or someone who knows one, can you please ask them to get the Whitehouse on the record as to whether or not the president believes he would need a declaration of war from congress to authorize a nuclear attack on Iran? Perhaps I'm silly, but it seems like an important question. It might even be fun to see scotty dance around the question. Who knows, he might even answer it since there isn't "an ongoing investigation" to use as an excuse.
"There was not a war declaration"
Tue Feb 07, 2006 at 11:56:08 AM PDT
GONZALES: There was not a war declaration, either in connection with Al Qaida or in Iraq. It was an authorization to use military force.
Those were Gonzales' exact words according to the
Washington Post's Transcripts. Of course the entire argument is based on "war powers" which Gonzales and the Republican Senators kept hammering on us throughout the hearing, and the pundit's have been using for the last 4 1/2 years.
Come below the fold for the full context of the quote and some more analysis.
Time to declare war.
Wed Dec 21, 2005 at 07:05:40 AM PDT
Today I called upon my Senators to declare war.
Bush is using the "war" as an excuse for everything and the only result is a blatant abuse of power.
I told my Senators that after 4 years, it is time for the Congress to fulfill it's obligations under the Constitution to define exactly what it is we are at war with.
I do not object to any president using extraordinary measures when we are at war, but there are limits.
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Tax cuts to support the war.Drilling in ANWR to support the war.Supressing the press to support the war.Spying on Americans to support the war. |
We've been "at war" almost as long as Europe in World War II now. It's time Congress formalizes exactly what it is we are at war against so we can start putting checks on this administration.
They need to spell out what we are doing so the "war" cannot be an excuse for everything from outlawing brocoli to the abolishment of the bill of rights.
What are your thoughts?
Question for your Congresscritters
Sun Dec 11, 2005 at 02:47:15 PM PDT
Two of my three congresswomen voted correctly to deny President Bush the authority to start a war on his own volition. The third, Senator Feinstein, voted to abdicate her Constitutional duty, and I have tried several times to get her office to offer a justification for her vote.
