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The NY Times Wednesday reported that under a 1993 amendment to existing foreign investment law, the U.S. government is required to conduct a mandatory 45-day investigation if the investing company is owned and/or controlled by a foreign government. The key word here is mandatory. During this period, Defense, State, Commerce and Transportation department officials, along with the National Security Council and others, would get to put the deal under a microscope, ultimately reporting its findings back to the president. And, Congress would also have the opportunity to more deeply vet the transaction. But the great Bushevik Monarchy once again skirted the law. King Bush once again declared that "I am not above the law, I am the law." The most secretive administration in United States history has once again just flexed its unitary powers, telling Americans and Congress to screw off. So much for mandatory.
Last time I checked, there are three equal branches of government. Yet this is something the Busheviks have yet to recognize and respect. They govern unilaterally, with reckless abandon and with blatant disregard for the rule of law and a general disdain for checks and balances. On an issue so sensitive as homeland security, it's unfathomable that Bush did not confer with Congress prior to authorizing the sale of operation at six major U.S. ports to a state-owned company of the United Arab Emirates. This administration has consistently circumvented the legislative branch in order to push through its aggressive agenda. This time it's backfired big time, as leaders on both sides of the aisle are in a state of furor over this sale. Everyone from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has lined up against the president, who vows to veto any legislation to stop the deal. But it would seem likely that Congress would have the necessary votes to overturn such a veto.
What is with this administration, and when will it stop the lunacy? Just when you think it'd learn its lesson--i.e. WMD, the Katrina response, Harriet Miers, NSA warrantless wiretappings, Cheney's four-day post-shooting silence--they bungle yet another matter. Either they just don't give a shit, or they're the most inept group of politicians to ever hit Washington. I'm not sure which is more dangerous.
Last time I checked, there are three equal branches of government. Yet this is something the Busheviks have yet to recognize and respect. They govern unilaterally, with reckless abandon and with blatant disregard for the rule of law and a general disdain for checks and balances. On an issue so sensitive as homeland security, it's unfathomable that Bush did not confer with Congress prior to authorizing the sale of operation at six major U.S. ports to a state-owned company of the United Arab Emirates. This administration has consistently circumvented the legislative branch in order to push through its aggressive agenda. This time it's backfired big time, as leaders on both sides of the aisle are in a state of furor over this sale. Everyone from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has lined up against the president, who vows to veto any legislation to stop the deal. But it would seem likely that Congress would have the necessary votes to overturn such a veto.
What is with this administration, and when will it stop the lunacy? Just when you think it'd learn its lesson--i.e. WMD, the Katrina response, Harriet Miers, NSA warrantless wiretappings, Cheney's four-day post-shooting silence--they bungle yet another matter. Either they just don't give a shit, or they're the most inept group of politicians to ever hit Washington. I'm not sure which is more dangerous.