[NYTr] Beware of the Lame Duck Bush

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

The Nation - Oct 1, 2007 issue
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20071001&s=editors

Editorial

Beware the Lame Duck

For what seems like an eternity, we have eagerly anticipated January
20, 2009--the day George W. Bush must move out of the White House and
slink home to Texas. So dismal has been his tenure that two-thirds of
Americans apparently feel the same way, and more than one-third support
impeachment. There is discussion in the mainstream press as to whether
the Bush presidency ranks as the worst ever. Even the formerly
sympathetic Washington press corps seems keen to write "The End."
Sparked by the recent departures of Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove,
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and press secretary Tony Snow, the
media have taken to calling Bush a lame-duck President whose political
capital is spent and whose attention has turned to his civic afterlife:
giving high-priced lectures and fussing over his Freedom Institute and
presidential library.

But relief over Bush's last days should not blind us to this central
fact: For the next sixteen months, his Administration is the executive
branch. It still runs the occupation of Iraq, approves or vetoes laws
and budgets, makes political and judicial appointments, issues federal
regulations, negotiates treaties and trade agreements and controls a
swollen network of surveillance and law enforcement agencies. Indeed,
thanks to the implementation of the "unitary executive" theory and the
unprecedented use of signing statements, Bush may be the most powerful
and dangerous President in history.

Even amid the turmoil of this August's high-profile departures, the
Administration continued to flex its muscles. It asked for--and
Congress approved--broadly expanded powers to spy without a warrant on
the international phone calls and e-mail of American citizens.
Essentially legalizing wiretaps previously conducted in secrecy by the
National Security Agency, the law gives the Attorney General and
director of national intelligence, both appointed by the President, the
authority to approve such surveillance--authority previously held by
the judicial branch. The Administration also announced new rules that
would require employers to fire any worker whose Social Security number
does not match the federal database. These no-match checks, a brazen
attempt to create a crisis in order to revive support for Bush's
stalled immigration reforms, could affect millions of undocumented
workers and imperil thousands of businesses. Then, with Congress in
recess, the Administration sent an edict to state health officials that
could deny many thousands of children access to the State Children's
Health Insurance Program. Earlier, the Senate and House had passed
bills that would make S-CHIP available to more kids; Bush has
threatened a veto.

Spying on citizens, threatening financial ruin, depriving children of
healthcare--it's hard to imagine a more reckless and unpopular agenda.
But this Administration has rarely bothered with political reality; it
has imposed its own version of it against the will of Congress and the
people.

This fall will test the lame duck's ability to continue down this path.
Democrats in Congress should insist on independent investigations into
Attorneygate and other Administration scandals. Also looming are
battles over Iraq War funding; reauthorization of the No Child Left
Behind Act; passage of farm and energy bills; approval of free-trade
agreements with Korea, Colombia and Peru; and hearings over Bush's next
Attorney General nominee. These are not modest proposals. And a
continuation of the status quo in Iraq spells disaster. By one rough
estimate an Iraqi is killed every ten minutes and an American soldier,
every ten hours. And every ten days, $2 billion is taken from our
Treasury and pumped into the coffers of Blackwater, Halliburton and
other war profiteers.

As a beleaguered public looks forward to the 2008 election and Bush's
departure, anticipation must not induce complacency. Vigorous
Congressional resistance is important, but it can only be a partial
counterweight. Because this President has amassed extraordinary
executive powers, normal checks and balances are insufficient, and
there is little Congressional Democrats can do in the face of
eleventh-hour regulations and vetoes. This is why during the next
sixteen months we must not play a waiting game. There must be a
wellspring of public activism and media vigilance. No matter how weak
this President may seem, he intends to go out with a roar. Now is not
the time for the bleating of sheep.