Pirate's Cove

It is apparently all about Obama Bush

President Obama has irked close allies in Congress by declaring he has the right to ignore legislation on constitutional grounds after having criticized George W. Bush for doing the same.

Four senior House Democrats on Tuesday said they were “surprised” and “chagrined” by Obama’s declaration in June that he doesn’t have to comply with provisions in a war spending bill that puts conditions on aid provided to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

In a signing statement accompanying the $106 billion bill, Obama said he wouldn’t allow the legislation to interfere with his authority as president to conduct foreign policy and negotiate with other governments.

Hey, remember when the nutroots and the Democrat mainstream went ape over Bush’s signing statements? Yeah, now it is “well, Obama is a naughty boy.” Of course, Obama is starting to truly irk and annoy one of the other branches of the federal government with his “I’m the President and I will do as I want” pomposity.

Hey, look, the “Bush did it” defense

Invoking an argument used by President George W. Bush, the Obama administration has turned down a request from a watchdog group for a list of health industry executives who have visited the White House to discuss the massive healthcare overhaul.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sent a letter to the Secret Service asking about visits from 18 executives representing health insurers, drug makers, doctors and other players in the debate. The group wants the material in order to gauge the influence of those executives in crafting a new healthcare policy.

The Secret Service sent a reply stating that documents revealing the frequency of such visits were considered presidential records exempt from public disclosure laws. The agency also said it was advised by the Justice Department that the Secret Service was within its rights to withhold the information because of the “presidential communications privilege.”

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics said it would file suit against the Obama administration as early as today.

Interesting that the LA Times is unable to provide any times when Bush actually did this. Anyhow, transparency! Hope! Change! A new way of running Washington. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for an answer on the FOIA request I filed for the passenger manifest for the Scare Force One overflight of Manhattan. Transparency!

Others, mostly libs, some of which go with the Bush defense, some of which say “bad boy,” some slapping Obama with a dead fish: The Plum Line, MyDD, Salon, msnbc.com, Buck Naked Politics, TPMMuckraker, Denver Post, The Confluence, Sunlight Foundation, Emptywheel, Talking Points Memo, Taylor Marsh, Think Progress, JustOneMinute, Democracy in America, Outside The Beltway, Michelle Malkin, The Impolitic, Media Blog and AMERICAblog News