IP: Bush seizing massive power

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55391-2001Nov19.html

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan have dramatically 
accelerated a push by the Bush administration to strengthen presidential 
powers, giving President Bush a dominance over American government 
exceeding that of other post-Watergate presidents and rivaling even 
Franklin D. Roosevelt's command.

<snip>

Some in the legislative branch, particularly in the opposition party, 
detect a striking departure in public policy. "There's just a philosophy in 
the administration that the public doesn't have a right to know, which is 
counter to the trend of the last 30 years," said Phil Schiliro, staff chief 
to Rep. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House 
oversight committee. "Now they can justify it with national security, but 
that's more for convenience."

Scholars who follow Washington offer say history offers ample precedent for 
a wartime expansion of presidential power. "Crisis seeks leadership," said 
Charles O. Jones, a presidential scholar with the University of Wisconsin. 
"The only question becomes is the White House prepared to accept it and use 
it effectively. This team has an above-average record so far."

Norman Ornstein, a governmental scholar at the American Enterprise 
Institute, said the growth in presidential power during the first year of 
the Bush administration exceeds the clout presidents gained in recent wars, 
comparing it to the free hand Congress and the judiciary gave Roosevelt to 
fight World War II.

"You always have to worry about people who have this kind of power who 
don't have the restraint," he said. "I worry about that, but we have such a 
different kind of threat on the country as a whole that you have to change 
the way you look at presidential power."


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