This year as I prepare my income tax return, I am going to take a cue from George W. Bush.
After dotting the i's and crossing the t's, and rolling my eyes at the anemic refund coming to me, I'm going to attach a "signing statement".
Just as the President points out when defending his ubiquitous use of this controversial device, I recognize that the law is the law, and I can't change that by scribbling a note at the bottom of it. But I can scribble to my heart's content, reserving the right to ignore parts of the law if I so choose.
That's exactly what our Chief Executive has done repeatedly, and continues to do.
The practice seems somewhat silly to me. Usually, someone who plans on breaking the law does not broadcast that plan beforehand. He keeps it to himself, does his law-breaking, and hopes not to get caught. George W. actually takes the finalized draft of a law and, before God and everybody, scrawls a message that brazenly announces his intent to ignore or outright violate the very law he is signing! If that's how things work in America, what's the use of having any laws at all?
George Bush may be the President, but he is also a citizen. Just as any other citizen, the President is obligated to observe and obey the laws of the United States, and to face the consequences should he violate them. Even the President is not above the law. Only a dictator is above the law of the land.
But the President also has an additional obligation that most other citizens do not share. He must ensure the laws are enforced. He took an oath to do so. How is the President to enforce a law that he, himself, reserves the right to break? This seems to be an enormous conflict of interests. Not only does this practice assert that some people can operate outside the law, it keeps the law from being enforced on the whole population.
He has spewed it a thousand times in hundreds of speeches - "rule of law". "America is a country based on the rule of law." And, "We have to help Iraq become a democracy that believes in the rule of law." If the President truly believed in this, he would not be subverting it. Perhaps he should amend his statements to read, "The rule of law applies to all Americans - except me."
So, in the spirit of the President's signing statements, my tax return will be accompanied by a statement containing the following caveats:
1. This taxpayer reserves the right to restrict the allocation of any and all taxes contributed by him to purposes that do not include: a) the escalation of American military forces and equipment in Iraq b) any program or operation having to do with domestic wiretapping or any other form of warrantless spying on Americans c) the funding of any prisons operated outside the boundaries of the fifty United States of America d) the funding of any program or operation that is not compliant with the provisions of the Geneva Conventions as interpreted by International standards e) the funding of any war, police action, peacekeeping mission, or other military or paramilitary operation that has not been specifically authorized by Congress f) the funding of any military tribunal or court proceedings that do not afford the person whose fate is being decided full and unabridged Habeas Corpus consideration, or does not permit the full disclosure of all evidence used in all proceedings to the defense.
2. This taxpayer also reserves the right to restrict the allocation of any and all taxes contributed by him to purposes that do not include: a) the payment of pensions to members of Congress who have been convicted of any felony b) the payment of subsidies of any kind to Big Oil Companies c) the payment of any no-bid government contracts.
How's that for a signing statement, Mr. President?
