Peter’s Blog

Judge rules White House aides can be subpoenaed - International Herald Tribune

Bates, who was appointed to the bench by Bush, issued a 93-page opinion that strongly rejected the administration’s legal arguments. He noted that the executive branch could not point to a single case in which courts held that White House aides were immune from congressional subpoenas.

“That simple yet critical fact bears repeating: the asserted absolute immunity claim here is entirely unsupported by existing case law,” Bates wrote.

Nice!

Bushs veto threat provokes skirmish on housing bill - International Herald Tribune

Bush, in threatening to veto Franks bill, has called on Congress to pass those two measures as stand-alone legislation. As Democrats tried to bring their bill to the floor on Wednesday, House Republicans threw up procedural roadblocks, including a series of votes on motions to adjourn.

The majority leader, Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, gave a floor speech early in the evening accusing the Republicans of an “abuse of process.”

In response, the Republican leader, Representative John Boehner of Ohio, accused the Democrats of cutting Republicans out of the legislative process.

“We dont have many ways to express our grievance on the housing bill because we have no amendment we can offer,” Boehner said. “All we are asking is to be treated fairly.”

What goes around, comes around, and every time it’s stupid.