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| Specter: Bush Not Sole 'Decision-Maker' |
| 2007-01-30 |
| Hat Tip: BreitBart.com WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Senate Republican on Tuesday directly challenged President Bush's declaration that "I am the decision-maker" on issues of war. "I would suggest respectfully to the president that he is not the sole decider," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said during a hearing on Congress' war powers amid an increasingly harsh debate over Iraq war policy. "The decider is a shared and joint responsibility," Specter said. The question of whether to use its power over the government's purse strings to force an end to the war in Iraq, and under what conditions, is among the issues faced by the newly empowered Democratic majority in Congress, and even some of the president's political allies as well. No one challenges the notion that Congress can stop a war by canceling its funding. In fact, Vice President Dick Cheney challenged Congress to back up its objections to Bush's plan to put 21,500 more troops in Iraq by zeroing out the war budget. Underlying Cheney's gambit is the consensus understanding that such a drastic move is doubtful because it would be fraught with political peril. |
| Posted by:FOTSGreg |
| #9 Link to AUMF for full text, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021002-2.html |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-01-30 19:34 |
| #8 The problem with a full blown declaratiion of war lies in North Dakota and in areas of interest in the far norther sea. A real war means real weapons, and we can't talk about those, too icky. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-01-30 17:00 |
| #7 Well, Arlen as long as you're not the other one. Because I wouldn't trust you to mow my lawn. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-01-30 16:39 |
| #6 You think during the early 19th Century that the President was expected to wait for Congress to convene in order to repel an invasion? You think that the President had to consult Congress before the War Department organized and sent a expedition against the natives? Rubbish. Someone aught to get the Senate a copy of the History of Rome for each member so they can see that there is another body that historically takes umbrage to being treated as expendable for political posturing back home. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-01-30 16:16 |
| #5 Congress DOES have the power to declare war. The Framers did not get particularly specific about how such a thing is to be worded. The 2002 AUMF serves the purpose just as well as anything. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-01-30 15:36 |
| #4 ...If there was ever any other proof needed that to the Political Elite the Constitution is whatever they want it to be, this is it. This is what Patrick Henry was talking about when he mentioned watering the Tree of Liberty. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-01-30 14:39 |
| #3 Spectre needs an enema, to blow his brains out of his a$$. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-01-30 14:23 |
| #2 Do any of these morons even KNOW/READ/UNDERSTAND the constitution anymore? Or is it just all power grabbing? Geez... The president is the FUCKING COMMANDER IN CHIEF you fuck. Once you give him the green light for war, he is in FUCKING CHARGE! Period. Stop. End of debate. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-01-30 13:22 |
| #1 Seems to me that somebody (several somebodies as a matter of fact) want authority without responsibility. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-01-30 12:49 |