Reply #51: Did he say that he would swear off signing statements?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

I don't remember him saying anything during the campaign about not ever issuing signing statements and if he did, then, yeah, he's a hypocrite. However, specifically addressing "signing statements", I don't recall signing statements being a huge issue in regards to any presidents (including Clinton) until Bushco came to town and he explicitly utilized them to flaunt whatever parts of the law he (and Cheney, Yoo, Addington, et. al) wanted to whenever they felt like it. I'm not sure where they come from in the Constitution but if they're unconstitutional, maybe somebody should take it to court? :shrug:
My understanding of them is that they are usually supposed to be an advisory statement regarding the law made by the President and NOT a re-write and/or re-interpretation of the law. Come to think of it, I never even heard of them until they started flying out of Bushco's (mis-)administration, particularly when he stopped being able to get legislation in the form that he wanted out of Congress.

I don't get the impression that Obama intends to use signing statements as frequently or in the same manner but, hey, I COULD be wrong (I can admit that I've been wrong before) and maybe Obama is actually NO better than Bush. :shrug: