Bush Gives Himself Authority to Search the Mail
"Signing Statement" Added to Mundane Bill Gives White House Unprecedented Power
President Bush has claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant.
While most of Congress was preparing for the holiday season, President George Bush quietly asserted his authority by giving the government the right to search your mail without a warrant.
While signing the mostly mundane Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act into law Dec. 20, Bush added a "signing statement" that awarded him a vague authority to open individuals' mail under emergency circumstances.
That signing statement contradicts existing laws and statements found within the text of the law he had just signed, experts said.
Experts said the new powers could be easily abused and used to vacuum up large amounts of mail.
"The [Bush] signing statement claims authority to open domestic mail without a warrant, and that would be new and quite alarming," said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies in Washington.
"The danger is they're reading Americans' mail," she said.
The news of this unprecedented authority comes one year after Bush got his hand slapped for tapping Americans' phones.
The White House is saying that this authority is nothing new.
Most of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act deals with mundane reform measures. But it also explicitly reinforced protections of first-class mail from searches without a court's approval.
Yet in his statement Bush said he will "construe" an exception, "which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection in a manner consistent ... with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances."
Experts fear Bush could use this reaffirmed authority to read endless stacks of U.S. mail.
"You have to be concerned," a senior U.S. official told the Daily News. "It takes Executive Branch authority beyond anything we've ever known."
A "signing statement" is the loose authority for the President to add provisions to a bill when he signs it into law. The practice has come under particular criticism during Bush's two terms because he has used it more than 130 times and his statements have received more than 750 formal challenges. That is far less than half any other president who has served a full eight years.
One other recent controversial signing statement was added to the McCain Detainee Amendment. In the statement, Bush essentially gave himself the authority to determine what is considered torture.
Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds...
BUT A DIP-SHNIT FROM TX CAN!
via Consumer Affairs and NY Daily News
8 comments:
If he opens my mail, he can also pay my bills, it's only fair and he's given away enough pork to his cronies, I need some too.
He can have all my junk mail, I'm fine with that!
I think you misread his bill signing statement if you think it applies only in emergencies. It clearly states mail can be opened for intelligence gathering anytime at all.
I wish the media would make a bigger deal of these bill signing statements than they have.
I didn’t mistake it, I KNOW he’s planning on opening anything he wants. I only quoted the article said.
“Bush added a “signing statement" that awarded him a vague authority to open individuals' mail under emergency circumstances” was a direct quote.
I think everyone knows The Imperial Wizard just gave himself the athority to open anybody’s mail at any time. Same as the wiretaps.
And MsMel, you’re assumming Bush can read and write! It’s a well known rumor that Bush doesn’t (or can’t) read very well. I’m sure he’ll have to have one of his minions read any mail that he’s interested in snoopy into.
I wondered today, as I put some bills in the mailbox for the postman to pick up, just how long it would take the Secret Service to show up at my door if I started putting messages to Bush on the outside of all my envelopes!
I wonder what they’d do to me?
They'd send you to the "Stepford Wife Rehab Center for good little Republican Women." Lynne Cheney is the Director and Michelle Caulkin is the chief instructor..........have fun....and don't forget to write.
So basically, they’d remove all of my personality and most of my taste in clothing?
Yes, that is, assuming you have personality and taste.
And that's my last shot for a while. Gonna be going 24/7 for a while on a project. And you know what you do to me, Moo. Can't think, can't sleep, drool my food, walk into lampposts. Gotta make a litle money, hamburger helper doesn't help quite enough.
I understand, my Shoo-meister. And while we will miss your ever-amusing tongue-lashings, we will just have to muddle through.
You know where we’ll be if you get bored with all that work stuff. Don’t stay gone too long though, you know how I hate windless wings…
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