Obama on the campaign trail promised “to not use signing statements as a way of doing an end run around Congress”.25
However, as the New York Times noted:
“Already, Mr. Obama has had to reconcile his campaign-trail criticism of Mr. Bush for excessive use of so-called signing statements to bypass parts of legislation with his own use of such tactics. After a bipartisan furor in Congress last year, Mr. Obama stopped issuing such signing statements, but aides said last month that he still reserves the right to ignore sections of bills he considers unconstitutional if objections have been lodged previously by the executive branch.”
Peter Baker, New York Times26
Most recently, Obama used one an Executive Order as part of a deal with pro-life Democrats to pass the health care bill. However, these same signing statements are the same ones he criticized George Bush for using, and promised not to use.27
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Greenhouse, S. (2006, December 5). With the Democrat Congress, Groups Gear Up for Fight Over Paid Sick Days. New York Times. Retrieved from
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Mooney, A. (2008, January 6). White House hopefuls spar before New Hampshire. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/05/nh.debates/index.html
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(2008, January 6). N.H. Debate: The Dems' Turn. FactCheck.org. Retrieved from
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7
Richert, C., & Allison, W. (2010, March 19). Barack Obama Campaign Promise No. 179: Revise the Patriot Act to increase oversight on government surveillance. PolitiFact. Retrieved from
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/179/revise-the-patriot-act-to-increase- oversight-on-go/
Richert, C., Jacobson, L., & Holan, A.D. (2010, March 19). Barack Obama Campaign Promise No. 180: Restrict warrantless wiretaps. PolitiFact. Retrieved from http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-
meter/promises/promise/180/end-warrantless-wiretaps/
8
Obama, B. (2007, August 1). Barack Obama: The War We Need to Win. BarackObama.com. Retrieved from http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/CounterterrorismFactSheet.pdf
9
(2009, November 22). Barack Obama on Homeland Security. On The Issues. Retrieved from
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10
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11
Anderson, S., Henry, E., & Tatton, A. (2008, July 11). Obama's surveillance vote spurs blogging backlash. CNN, Election Center 2008. Retrieved from
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12
President Obama on HR 6304 – Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved from http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=20044&can_id=9490
13
(2008, January 5). Fact Check: Obama's Consistent Position on the Patriot Act. BarackObama.com. Retrieved from
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14
Rospars, J. (2008, July 3). Response from Barack on FISA and Discussion with Policy Staff. BarackObama.com. Retrieved from
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16
CNN Politics (2010, August 31). Obama: ‘Time to turn the page’ as Iraq combat mission ends. Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-31/politics/obama.oval.office.address_1_iraq- requests-united-states-and-iraq-troop-surge?_s=PM:POLITICS
17
United States Senate (2008, June 26). On the Motion (Motion To Concur In House Amdts To Senate Amdt To House Amdt To Senate Amdt To H.R. 2642 ). 110thCongress – 2ndSession. Retrieved from
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The Library of Congress, Thomas (2007, June 11). Bill Summary & Status: H.R. 2642. 110thCongress. Retrieved from http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02642:
18
United States Senate (2007, September 6). On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 2642 As Amended ). 110th Congress – 1stSession. Retrieved from
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19
Sweet, L. (2007, January 31). Once opposed setting “date certain”. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from
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20
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21
United States Senate (2006, June 22). On the Amendment (Kerry Amdt. No. 4442 ). 109th Congress – 2ndSession. Retrieved from
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The Library of Congress, Thomas (2007, January 30). Bill Summary & Status: S. 433. 110thCongress. Retrieved from http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.00433:
23
Bank, J. (2008, January 17). Obama’s Creative Clippings, Part Deux. FactCheck.org. Retrieved from
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24
Fournier, R. (2007, October 3). Obama prescient on Iraq, but ‘courageous leader’ tag may be a stretch. Associated Press. Retrieved from http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue/2007/10/03/64768-obama- prescient-on-iraq-but-courageous-leader-tag-may-be-a-stretch/
25
Ku, J. (2009, July 1). Is Obama Really Hypocritical on Signing Statements? Yup. Opinio Juris. Retrieved from http://opiniojuris.org/2009/07/01/did-anyone-oppose-signing-statements-just-koh-the- aba-and-some-guy-named-barack/
PolitiFact. Barack Obama Campaign Promise No. 516: No signing statements to nullify instructions from Congress. Retrieved from http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/516/no-signing- statements-nullify-instruction-congress/
26
Baker, P. (2010, February 12). Obama Making Plans to Use Executive Power. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/us/politics/13obama.html
27
Rhee, F. (2009, March 29). Obama rebukes Bush on signing statements. The Boston Globe. Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/03/obama_rebukes_b.html