What would you think if I told you that Congress passed a law, the law came to the President to be signed, he signed it but added a “signing statement” that reverses the intent of the law? Is that the action of a president or a dictator? If a president treats a bill on his desk as a blank sheet of paper on which he can write any law he pleases, then what do we have Congress for?

Is the above a hypothetical situation? No, I’m afraid it’s not. This very scenario took place a couple of months ago on Dec 20, 2007. Lawmakers were shocked but what can they do?