Barb’s Blog

Not seen on the mainstream nightly news. If Bush has been rebuked by such an overwhelming vote against him, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE LEAD STORY…

Obama made a  deliberate decision to ignore constraints in legislation he is signing. The House overwhelmingly REBUKED Obama by a vote of 429 – 2. At issue is an amendment added to the $106 Billion Supplemental War-Funding legislation signed by Obama last month. During the signing, Obama stated he would not follow the amendment’s constraints with respect to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Obama stated the conditions “interfered” with his powers as President.

I rarely agree with Barney Frank, but his rebuke verbally went this way: “We do this not just on behalf of this institution, but ON BEHALF OF THIS DEMOCRACY. There’s kind of a unilateralism, an UNDEMOCRATIC, UNREACHABLE way about these signing statements.”

Frank and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said that one way they could get presidents to stop issuing signing statements casting aside laws would be to refuse to fund their priorities. The amendment passed Thursday seeks to nullify Obama’s signing statement by withholding funds from any agreement involving the Treasury Department that doesn’t follow the conditions set out in the supplemental bill.

“The signal we send to the Treasury is very clear: Ignore statute at your peril,” Kirk said.

The U.S. funding for the IMF, which will come in the form of a $108 billion credit line, was a sticking point in negotiations over the war supplemental bill. House Republicans opposed the legislation despite their support for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan because they viewed the IMF funding as an unnecessary “global bailout.” House and Senate leaders included constraints on the IMF and World Bank funding as a way to ensure support from lawmakers skeptical over sending more money abroad, said House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.).

The Hill Article HERE