Obama to reverse Bush executive orders

[Pirate Smile]

Source: Politico


Obama is expected to move swiftly to reverse executive orders regarding torture of terror suspects, the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and other controversial security policies, sources close to his transition said, in dramatic gestures aimed at reversing President Bush’s accumulation of executive power.
Photo: AP

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to move swiftly to reverse executive orders regarding torture of terror suspects, the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and other controversial security policies, sources close to his transition said, in dramatic gestures aimed at reversing President Bush’s accumulation of executive power.

Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) said he’s been informed that President Obama will support his proposed legislation to make public some opinions from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which issued some of the Bush Administration's most sweeping claims of executive power. Obama also has promised to limit President Bush's practice of using "signing statements" to amend legislation.

"Every day we get indications that they're serious about reversing the abuses of the Constitution," Feingold, a harsh Bush critic, told Politico. Feingold said Obama's staff told him to expect executive orders rapidly reversing Bush policies on the interrogation and detention of terror suspects, and on keeping the records of past presidents secret. He declined to be more specific.

"I don't know in what order or how fast" Obama’s executive orders could come, he said. "It'll be important that a couple of them be done immediately, and I think they will be, to show there's a strong break from the current policy."
Chris Lu, executive director of Obama’s transition team, told supporters in a conference call earlier this month that Obama’s aides have “started developing executive orders that the pres elect is considering –not only ones the President-elect will sign after January 20, but also ones we will want to repeal."

Obama aides didn't respond to requests for more detail, but the president-elect campaigned against what he called Bush’s abuse of executive authority.
"I was a constitutional law professor, which means unlike the current president, I actually respect the Constitution," Obama told an audience at a campaign fundraiser in 2007.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17365.html

[williesgirl]

1. And when will the Dem led Congress repeal Patriot Act and others? This is a start. rec'd

[polichick]

2. Great news!

[Hannah Bell]

22. agreed, it is good news. i'm pleasantly surprised.

[tularetom]

3. If he really wants to make a dramatic gesture

He should have the handcuffs slapped on bush at the inauguration and haul his miserable ass off to the Hague and turned over to the War Crimes Tribunal.

Or have hin "rendered" to one of the 'stans.

[TheEuclideanOne]

21. Perhaps a Waterboarding demo. You know, just to show that it really isn't torture

As some of the RightWing blowholes are so quick to point out, "you just get a little bit wet, tough it out and you're done. Just like dunking your head in water". Yeah, that's the ticket.

[lunatica]

60. Unfortunately that means he would have to torture someone

Besides, only sadistic psychopaths would watch and that would just give them ideas.

[TheEuclideanOne]

61. That's okay, it would give us useful intelligence and I believe that

is all that we really need to justify it, right? If I have been hearing things correctly, that even makes it legal.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

55. What war crimes tribunal?

There is no war crimes tribunal for Iraq. If you mean the ICC, he's specifically forbade from turning anyone over to that organization.

[Cha]

4. GOBama!

We're moving into the reality era.

[Fire1]

5. YES HE CAN!!!!!

[Two Americas]

6. very encouraging

Thanks for this.

[machI]

7. He should have a segment in his weekly address telling us which ones he rescinded that week.

Tune in next week folks and hear about removing the restrictions on the EPA.

[jody]

8. The interesting thing is what Bush executive orders and signing statements are allowed to remain. nt

[Posteritatis]

12. Some of those would probably be declarations of stuff like Cheese Appreciation Day or the like too

Not every EO Bush would've put through is even relevant to much of anything, never mind necessarily bad. There's a bunch that pretty much just need to be ignored.

The most common figure I've seen when stories mentioned Obama going after the executive orders mention that about eighty percent of them are in his legal team's crosshairs.

[rfranklin]

13. Yes, and the only reasonable move would be rescinding all...

of the Bush presidential directives. Each and every one.

[jody]

25. I'll agree to that. n/t

[Buns_of_Fire]

54. That's always been my favored approach.

Rescind and declare null and void EVERY presidential signing statement issued between January 19, 2000, and January 20, 2009. Clean, quick, and simple. Why use a scalpel when a chainsaw will do?

But then, that's why I would never be chosen as a presidential advisor. My approach might set a dangerous precedent, should we be unlucky enough to ever wind up with another slash-n-burn radical like Shit-fer-Brains in the Oval Office.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

56. All executive orders?

Quite a few executive orders are just standard bureaucratic directives with no policy implications (adjusting pay rates, minor changes to organizational structure, etc)

[kenfrequed]

75. Agreed

Executive orders referring to making secret Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush administrations should be taken care reversed.

Signing statements should be toast. An executive order recognizing those orders that alter the meaning, application, or enforcement of a law as unconstitutional and legislating from the oval office ought to be adequate.

ALL "Midnight resolutions" done up by Bush at the last minute to shield him and his allies from prosecution or reward their behavoir should be immediately reversed.

[defendandprotect]

34. You know . .. Congress has the responsibility to ensure that things like

"Signing Statements" don't happen . . .

Congress is charged with ensuring that the legislation they pass is carried out

with the intent and spirit of the manner in which it was passed----!!!

So, why has this crap been ignored so long?

[NBachers]

38. Don't worry- we'll soon be inundated with Republican

constitutional scholars who will militantly protect our precious Constitution in the face of Obama over-reaching.

[jody]

40. Agree. I wish voters would elect 435 new reps in 2010 who promise to represent We the People and

keep doing that every two years until the people reclaim their government.

[mopinko]

9. IMPEACH HIM!!11!1 IM SERIES!!

yes we can keep campaign promises. gobama

[jaysunb]

10. Prelude to prosecution....

The man is an excellent tactician. Doing it the right way. Let the public see the facts and be assured there won't be any room for the criminals and their enablers to cry foul. ( revenge )

Pass the popcorn. :popcorn: and the libations. :beer:

[BlancheSplanchnik]

62. YES!! Gotta love it!

I wasn't surprised to see the OP announcement. Thrilled yes, but I saw this information several weeks ago, maybe even here on DU. Right after the election, he and Team Obama announced the first actions would be to reverse bush executive orders; also, deal with lobbyists.

Also, one of the first bills in the works for PRESIDENT Obama to sign will be the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Cool!! Especially when one remembers turdweasel's first bill: the Global Gag Rule, maiming and murdering women worldwide on the *specious* altar of the fetus.

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3883
The House passed on Friday two bills to bolster women's economic security: one is designed to reverse a 2007 Supreme Court decision that made it more difficult for women to sue for wage bias and the other strengthens existing pay equity laws.

The Senate could consider the bills as early as this week, ready to be placed on President Barack Obama's desk for signature immediately after he takes office.

"I'm very, very optimistic that with a new administration, in a new environment, with President-elect Obama using and talking about this as a major portion of his campaign, that . . . it can be one of the first pieces of new legislation that this president signs," DeLauro said in a recent interview.

[Laelth]

11. k&r for the restoration of the rule of law. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[mopinko]

14. oooo, please let us see poppy's records.

you know they show high crimes. i wonder if sealing those records wasn't a major motivation to getting junior in there in the first place. it certainly was a high priority.

[stubtoe]

64. That is an interesting thought.

Certainly the RNC was pushing junior for the candidacy back in 2000. All these years I've wondered WHY they would pick such a buffoon.

[Jefferson23]

15. God Almighty I hope Obama repeals that filthy vile trash, the MCA of 2006.

I want to see Bush, Cheney, Yoo and that other fucking bastard Addington start to sweat bullets over that one.

[Robbien]

16. The huge GOP slush fund called Faith Based Initiative is an Executive Order

That is one which needs to go and go fast in the first 100 days.

[defendandprotect]

29. Absolutely . . .!!!

[creeksneakers2]

17. Those who were held in contempt of congress

must be sent to prison.

[4dsc]

18. CHANGE is here...

Damn this is welcome news..

[stlsaxman]

19. stlsaxman wept.

[HughMoran]

20. I can't wait for Obama to get sworn in

So much evil to undo.

[Faygo Kid]

23. Another week. It seems like forever.

A week is too long. It does seem like W. wants to go, though. Cheney is another story.

[HughMoran]

24. Cheney is worried about jail and perhaps worse

He's a war criminal whose protection from prosecution is about to expire.

[defendandprotect]

30. I doubt Cheney is worried about anything....

the arrogance and criminality he's shown in last 8 years suggests he feels very safe.

[HughMoran]

47. Perhaps. I bet he has a little pit in his stomach though

He can't be 100% sure he'll be able to skate.

[defendandprotect]

49. Cheney wouldn't have done the things he did if he thought he'd get caught . ..

And they don't even have a GOP President coming in . . .

Come on . . . the myth that Oswald killed JFK still stands ---

This shouldn't be so, but it still is -- i.e., coverups work because their

allies/Establishment is still in power. Money is in power and owns government!

No matter it seems who occupies the White House-!

But keep your fingers crossed!

[CrazyLate]

69. Doubtful he's all that concerned about jail

His heart has been on borrowed time for a while. Devil should be calling his ass back home soon.

[Politicalboi]

33. I noticed that too today

When Bush said "When I get out of here" Like he's been in jail. When in reality we've been.

[awoke_in_2003]

48. I like your sig pic. nt

[defendandprotect]

31. Also seems like long time to me til 20th ...

Remember when GOP took over they changed ALL the personnel in Congress!!!

Because they were Dem people who had served Dems for years and years.

So -- now what?

[EraOfResponsibility]

26. Not good enough unless Obama intends to prosecute Bush & Cheney

I will not be satisfied until he does this.

:sarcasm:

[CoffeeCat]

27. This is what gives me hope...

...because this is exactly what he said during the primary.

Obama was calling undecided voters in Iowa during the primary, and I was lucky enough
to get a call. He asked me what my issues were.

I basically told him that I wanted my country back. I said that healthcare, education
and other social issues meant nothing to me if we didn't have a democracy.

We talked about him being a Constitutional lawyer. He obviously has a great deal of
respect and love for that document--because he spent years teaching young people to
respect and love it, too.

Obama ensured me that he wanted to restore Habeas, close Guantanamo, end torture, and
in his words, "I don't share the President's 'unitary executive mindset.'"

I could hear it in his voice, that this was a man of character, and that this was a man
who felt a deep need to clean up this mess.

One of the last things I said was that I didn't recognize my country any more, and that
I felt disconnected to my government--which has become barely recognizable.

His parting words were, "I understand exactly what you mean, and I intend to fix it."

I believe him. I could hear it in his voice. It's so good to have your beliefs
reaffirmed--that this guy is the real deal.

Now let's get to work!

[Patchuli]

36. What an exciting wonderful thing to happen to you!

You are so lucky to have gotten that call. Now me? No way, I live in CA. We are automatically going to hand our 55 EVs to the Dem! What a great conversation you had. I have every confidence in President-Elect Obama! :kick:

[defendandprotect]

28. GREAT if it happens . . . and fast. Will be watching--!!

[Harry Monroe]

32. BRAVO!!!!

Change we can believe in!!!

[pleah]

35. I hope it happens, but I'll believe it

when I see it.

[T Wolf]

37. Will his ceding power back to Congress enable the GOP cretins to more successfully block

initiatives?

In the ideal world, the power accumulated by Georgie would disappear. But in the real world we all have to live in, wouldn't it be better to retain some power in order to reverse the damage done by the pukes?

It seems to me that he is cutting his own throat before he accomplishes anything. I would like to see him use the power that Bush misused. After things are fixed, Obama can be noble.

Me - I'm looking for results.

[MessiahRp]

39. Closing Gitmo only works if he's not creating a special court to accept torture confessions

Which they indicated they would do in this morning's reports.

Rp

[SpartanDem]

51. bs

Closing Gitmo only works if he's not creating a special court to accept torture confessions
Which they indicated they would do in this morning's reports.

They never said they would do anything like what are your sources?

[MessiahRp]

57. Quite a few reputable ones in this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4814062

Rp

[rpannier]

41. Recommend

After all the criticism I've levelled at him.
I can also recommend the things he does that I agree with.

This is a start -- A VERY VERY VERY BIG start

on edit:
It's interesting to see that some people here won't commend this action unless he does two, three or more things.

[FourScore]

42. This is GREAT news!! n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

43. This is a great step in the right direction...and makes me breathe a little more easily.

[uppityperson]

44. Good. k&r eom

[AllyCat]

45. Considering I don't trust anything GWB does...what's the catch?

He's just too evil to do anything that might help the country. Maybe he really is worried about his legacy?

[Seldona]

46. Very good read. Glad to hear it.

Repubs must be shaking in their jack-boots.

[PlanetBev]

50. Start with the Global Gag Policy

Misogynist piece of shit :mad:

[FrenchieCat]

52. I see something.......

"Every day we get indications that they're serious about reversing the abuses of the Constitution," Feingold, a harsh Bush critic, told Politico. Feingold said Obama's staff told him to expect executive orders rapidly reversing Bush policies on the interrogation and detention of terror suspects, and on keeping the records of past presidents secret. He declined to be more specific.

[Golden Raisin]

53. Bush has all but destroyed

this country. It has been bankrupted both financially and morally (torture, rendition, the abandonment of New Orleans, etc.) Obama has been left with multiple, complex, virtually impossible Herculean labors to clean up and rebuild. For me, the single most important task is to restore the Constitution, which after 8 years of Bush/Cheney/Neocon rule, has been left in tatters --- publicly and sneeringly raped on almost a daily basis by BushCo. The Constitution is the soul of our Country and Democracy and it has to be healed, restored and put back on its pedestal. Neither Congress (who bent over for Bush for 8 long years) nor the Supreme Court (who installed Bush in 2000) upheld their Constitutional duties while Bush was busy with his damn "signing statements", so-called "Patriot" acts, and carving out an all-powerful, quasi-imperial Executive branch, etc. BushCo gutted and emasculated Checks and Balances, unopposed or abetted by the other branches, and I believe the gutting was deliberate policy. Republican pharisees cared more about who wore a f#*king flag lapel pin than our Constitution and Bill of Rights. For the future of this Country I'd like to see Obama propose and have a Federal law passed REQUIRING all high school students to take and pass what used to be called a "Civics" or "American Government" Class, which seem not to be taught anymore. The Constitution needs to be taught, discussed and understood by voting citizens. Future generations won't know their rights are being taken away or tampered with if they don't know what those rights are.

[CrazyLate]

71. Catharsis is good

But the financial crisis, which is our true crisis at the moment, pre-dates Bushco and there is plenty of blame to go around. Meaning, I don't think we should let Bush be a fall guy here. I want to see people high and low go to jail for the massive defrauding of America. The entire Wharton School of Management / Goldman Sachs / derivatives alum crowd should be shackled and put away some place other than Club Fed eating bologna sandwiches for a long, long time.

[MissMillie]

58. The one that interests me most is the one regarding Presidential Records

Bush effectively sealed Reagan's records, probably because most of his administration also worked under Reagan.

By law, Presidential records are the property of the American people. It's time to return the records to their rightful owners.

[midnight]

66. The law seems to be a flexible point with these people.

It is stretched only for them.

[Myrina]

59. Can't he issue an EO rescinding the entire Bush Presidency?

:shrug:

[Deep13]

63. okay!

:thumbsup: :fistbump: :applause:

[Number9Dream]

65. Also reverse the many anti-environmental policies / laws

Can President Obama reverse Scooter Libby's pardon? Would love to see that too.

[lenegal]

67. Go Obama

I still think you are a rock star

[Tarc]

68. Global Gag Rule should be priority #1

The bible-thumper gifts bestowed by Bush will have to be pried out of the woodwork, and this would be a very, very good way to start.

[scytherius]

70. Watching the Freepers suffer via their comments on the Politico thread is wonderful. n/t

nt

[niyad]

72. I hope the global gag rule is right there at the top of the list, along with all versions of the

patriot act, telecom immunity, etc.

[kenfrequed]

73. Ok...

I am starting to get a bit more optimistic again. This could be a great start.

I would also recommend the following:

Reverse all Bush "midnight resolutions." This is a disgusting practice that seeks to flout the will of the people by a cynical, greedy, president that cares more about feathering his bed than being a caretaker for the legacy of the nation.

Sign an executive order withdrawing the executive from all signing statements that alter the meaning of legislation. These signing statements were NEVER intended to alter a law, merely give those that come later insight into the thoughts of the president at the time, whether he approved of the law or whether he had misgivings or if the president had a concern about an aspect. It was never intended to allow the president to legislate from the oval office and it is insanely unconstitutional.

Reverse the absurd executive orders that seal presidential documents from previous administrations. I find it insane that Bush believes that history will judge him well when he so completely attempts to conceal history.

[Buzz Clik]

74. Please, please, please! Restore enforcement to EPA.

[Cherchez la Femme]

76. Well duh

First, I assume you mean stopping what executive orders haven't been signed/completed yet.
To reverse, or repeal Bush's completed, signed executive orders is no easy task, and will take years. Duh, again.

So that's not saying much. Even the boss of the most inept administration ever had his staff in the White House offices the very afternoon of his (first) swearing in stopping whatever Clinton orders were not yet finalized. I'll be surprised --and very happy-- if Obama's people move as quickly as Asshole-of-the-World (and-All-Time) did to stop whatever is still pending. To be sure, I'll be watching when his people get in there and put the kabosh on Dubya's leftover nasty-ass latent excrement. I hope that in this, POTUS-to-be Obama is as least as proactive as King George was.


I fear, since this was one of the few areas that Dub & crew actually were cognizant of, preemptive upon, and actually acted upon; that most if not all his final Fuck-Yous to the U.S. people and our physical country are already firm and fast.


What I have always wondered is the astounding range and power these executive orders carry. Is it not up to Congress to legislate laws for the nation? Do not many, and again if not most, of these orders seem to be (and of course have the power of) actual laws?!
Does anyone know what kind of limitations are exacted upon executive orders?



Additionally, I'll be watching what 'gifts' Little Hitler and his wife 'The (Pill-Popping) Joker' take from the White House.
Remember the complete freak-out the 'pukes had when the Clintons took presidential gifts; gifts that every other president in my living history (and surely before) have taken and had been allowed to take?
Even Poppy and Mrs. 'Bigot/Beautiful Mind' Bush?
Worked out well for those two, didn't it?

Oh yes, I surely remember the false allegations that the Clintons "trashed the White House", along with their "theft"!

Don't everybody?
Yet strangely, I haven't seen much --in fact nothing-- about this. At all.

Has anyone?

[chill_wind]

77. As well he should. n/t

[EmeraldCityGrl]

78. Keeping hope alive...

Thank you President Elect Obama. :loveya:

[tom_paine]

79. Now that's some damned good news to go along with the bad signs of late.

Yes, indeed.

Now, just match those words up with the appropriate actions in 2 weeks, and it will be a happy day, indeed.

[wordpix]

80. also, please reverse the BushCo anti-environment orders before

we have no more public lands left to enjoy