Posted by
Reeson on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 2:11:17 PM
Tom Brewton had an excellent piece on
American Daily today. Democrats are really frustrated by the President's insistence on his surge strategy. They believe that because they are opposed, the President should abdicate his Constitutional authority as Commander-in-Chief. The Cheney interview on Fox News Sunday really peeved them, especially when the VP said there was nothing Congress could do about it.
The article is worth a read. Link and excerpts below:
http://www.americandaily.com/article/17269
Will we have a reprise of the post Nixon-era Congressional invasion of the President's Constitutional powers that led, among other things, to eviscerating the CIA?
The new Democratic Congressional majority are challenging the Constitutional powers of the President on the whole sweep of national security measures. They are particularly infuriated by President Bush's intention to deploy 17,000 or more new troops in Iraq, their ire augmented by the President's short-term ability to do so whether they approve or not.
Presidential wartime powers are succinctly delineated by the Constitution's Article II, Section 2: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.....
Counterbalancing this seemingly absolute Presidential authority is the Constitutional provision that all taxes and appropriations, including those for military purposes, are the prerogative of Congress.
In principle there is nothing wrong with Congress sparring with the President. The question is whether it is for domestic political advantage at the expense of our national security.
With the liberal past as prologue, we have reason to fear that the task of Islamic jihad is about to become easier.
Thomas E. Brewton is a staff writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc.
His weblog is THE VIEW FROM 1776 http://www.thomasbrewton.com/
Native of Louisiana; graduated from Louisiana State University in 1956. While there had the good fortune to study political science under Eric Voegelin and Constitutional law under Walter Berns. Graduated from the Harvard Business School in 1958, then worked in the Wall Street financial community for thirty years. After retiring, surrounded by liberals in Scarsdale, New York, began writing op-ed pieces for local newspapers and essays for my children, aiming to counter the barbarism of liberal-socialism. From this came my website, The View From 1776 ( http://www.thomasbrewton.com/ ). A staff writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc. Send Feedback To Tom Brewton Site:
http://www.thomasbrewton.com