WTF???

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush on Friday headed toward a constitutional confrontation with Congress over his effort to reject a sweeping defense bill.

Bush announced he would scuttle the bill with a "pocket veto" — essentially, letting the bill die without his signature 10 days after he received it, or the end of Dec. 31.

But that can happen only when Congress is not in session; otherwise, the bill becomes law without a formal veto in 10 days. And the Senate maintains it is in session because it has held brief — sometimes only seconds long — meetings every two or three days with only one senator present.

The White House's view is that Congress has adjourned.


Obvious stupidity right? If the White House believed their own bullshit they would have recess appointed a long list of their favorite assholes. So what are they trying to pull? And why?

NYT


“The new democratic government of Iraq, during this crucial period of reconstruction, cannot afford to have its funds entangled in such lawsuits in the United States,” Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman, said in a statement.

Mr. Stanzel said the president objects to a section in the National Defense Authorization Act that would permit plaintiffs’ lawyers to freeze Iraqi funds and expose Iraq to “massive liability in lawsuits concerning the misdeeds of the Saddam Hussein regime.” At least one pending lawsuit reportedly seeks $1 billion or more.

President Bush issued a statement this afternoon that he was blocking the bill by a “pocket veto,” meaning he simply refuses to sign it. That refusal, while Congress is adjourned, prevents the bill from becoming law. For good measure, the president sent a “message of disapproval” to the Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Since the bill passed by big majorities in both Houses — far more than the two-thirds needed to override a veto — this latest dispute between the White House and Congressional Democrats could be resolved quickly, since neither side wants to be seen as doing anything to make military people unhappy.

So actually vetoing the bill makes him look stupid(hee, hee, wouldn't want that) and weak because he's being dictacted to by the government of Iraq(wimp junior!) and at the expense of the troops...

Mr. Reid and Ms. Pelosi were irate, asserting that the president was “bowing to the demands of the Iraqi government, which is threatening to withdraw billions of dollars invested in U.S. banks if this bill is signed.”

“The administration should have raised its objections earlier, when this issue could have been addressed without a veto,” the Democrats said. “The American people will have every right to be disappointed if the president vetoes this legislation, needlessly delaying implementation of the troops’ pay raise” and other items important to military families.

What fun! Be nice if the wankers at the Times read the AP and verse visa... *lol*

~SS

PS- They probably got it it right on Rawstory...