The Vice President
Effective oversight and transparency of our country’s most important documents are essential to accountability and respect for the rule of law. Executive Order 12958 states that information must be properly maintained “to protect our citizens, our democratic institutions, and our participation within the community of nations.” Bush amended and endorsed this order, and Cheney’s office complied with it until 2003. Since 2003, Cheney has refused to comply with Executive Order 12958, which “prescribes a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information.”
The Vice President claims he’s exempt from presidential executive orders because, as President of the Senate, he is “attached” to the legislative branch. However, the Senate has even more stringent regulations on the handling of classified material, which the Cheney hasn't followed. The White House will only say that this is an “interesting constitutional question that people can debate.”
Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution clearly states: “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected ...”
The Bush regime refuses to hold itself accountable for the protection of our national security, and Cheney is a key part of the problem. It was his office that leaked the identity of a covert CIA agent to the media. He’s part of a regime under investigation for using email accounts of the Republican National Committee to conduct official government business.
According to the Washington Post: “The vice president’s office goes to unusual lengths to avoid transparency. Cheney declines to disclose the names or even the size of his staff, generally releases no public calendar and ordered the Secret Service to destroy his visitor logs.
In the usual business of interagency consultation, proposals and information flow into the vice president’s office from around the government, but high-ranking White House officials said in interviews that almost nothing flows out. Close aides to Cheney describe a similar one-way valve inside the office, with information flowing up to the vice president but little or no reaction flowing down.
Under Cheney’s watch, some of our country’s most disgraceful moments have happened from Guantanamo Bay to Abu Ghraib. He has provide the Bush regime a convenient cover to do great damage to our Constitution and the American people. Bush must be held accountable for Cheney’s actions.
The Vice President claims he’s exempt from presidential executive orders because, as President of the Senate, he is “attached” to the legislative branch. However, the Senate has even more stringent regulations on the handling of classified material, which the Cheney hasn't followed. The White House will only say that this is an “interesting constitutional question that people can debate.”
Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution clearly states: “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected ...”
The Bush regime refuses to hold itself accountable for the protection of our national security, and Cheney is a key part of the problem. It was his office that leaked the identity of a covert CIA agent to the media. He’s part of a regime under investigation for using email accounts of the Republican National Committee to conduct official government business.
According to the Washington Post: “The vice president’s office goes to unusual lengths to avoid transparency. Cheney declines to disclose the names or even the size of his staff, generally releases no public calendar and ordered the Secret Service to destroy his visitor logs.
In the usual business of interagency consultation, proposals and information flow into the vice president’s office from around the government, but high-ranking White House officials said in interviews that almost nothing flows out. Close aides to Cheney describe a similar one-way valve inside the office, with information flowing up to the vice president but little or no reaction flowing down.
Under Cheney’s watch, some of our country’s most disgraceful moments have happened from Guantanamo Bay to Abu Ghraib. He has provide the Bush regime a convenient cover to do great damage to our Constitution and the American people. Bush must be held accountable for Cheney’s actions.
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