Feingold Answers The Damn Question

At last, a Democrat who is happy to state clearly that he favors democracy. After legal eagles told the Senate Judiciary Committee today that Bush's signing statements - and by extension those of Reagan, Bush I and Clinton - are clearly unconstitutional, Feingold issued a statement that gave me some new hope.

Now, as the witness testimony has pointed out, this Administration certainly isn’t the first to issue signing statements, nor is it the first to express concern about the constitutionality of particular provisions of laws in signing statements.

But this Administration has taken this approach far more often than prior Administrations, and it has done so to advance a view of executive power that, as far as I can tell, knows no bounds. What’s more, this Administration has shown no sense of obligation to resolve thorny constitutional questions by trying to facilitate judicial review of questionable provisions. And it has denied Congress the opportunity to overcome a presidential veto. It has instead assigned itself the sole responsibility for deciding which laws it will comply with, and in the process has taken upon itself the powers of all three branches of government.

As one law professor recently put it in a piece on signing statements, “Because President Bush has found constitutional problems with statutes so readily and because he takes such a radically expansive view of his own power, President Bush’s position amounts to a claim that he is impervious to the laws that Congress enacts.”

Mr. Chairman, I believe that is dangerous to our system of government. So I’m glad we are here talking about it today.

That's about as clear an answer to "the damn question":

Will you, if elected, pledge to roll back the Bush vision of total Presidential executive power?

As you can get. "The damn question" was never actually asked in so many words but he has clearly asked it of himself in some form. Thus, we now know exactly what Feingold's answer would be. YES

Senator Russ Fiengold - NOT Ostrich.

Here's hoping it emboldens the press and the netroots to begin asking the damn question of other candidates - and insisting on clear answers.