Friday, August 17, 2007

King George?

Wiki and ThisNation.com do a reasonable summary of what exactly an executive order is but it boils down to “laws” coming from the executive office. This practice is not spelled out in the constitution but come from an interpretation of..

"executive power" given in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution and the statement "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed" in Article II, Section 3.
One of the biggest and best known examples would be when Pres. Lincoln suspended the wit habeas corpus and issued Emancipation Proclamation. After reading over this concept, one might be tempted to thing that King George would be biggest user of this “executive power” but he is not.

Executive
Order break down since President Kennedy

George W. Bush 242 (to date) approximately 37/year
Bill Clinton 364 approximately 46/year
George H.W. Bush 166 approximately 42/year
Ronald Reagan 381 approximately 48/year
Jimmy Carter 320 approximately 80/year
Gerald Ford 169 approximately 68/year
Richard Nixon 346 approximately 62/year
Lyndon Johnson 324 approximately 58/year
John Kennedy 214 approximately 86/year
While I am sure this will do nothing to less the idea that Pres. G.W. Bush is tyrant but when compared to Chavez or Captain Ed calls him “The happiness Dictator”.

Also the one that pops out to me is the number Pres. Cater's used.
Want to see wat "laws" different presdient have made independent of Congress, check these sites out.

The White House
Executive Orders Disposition Tables (Federal Register)
Fedlaw