Libertarian think tank blasts Bush constitutional record

In a recent white paper, the libertarian Cato Institute has blasted President Bush's record of upholding the United States Constitution. It's yet another example of those who normally support the conservative agenda turning against this President's policies:

Power Surge: The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush
by Gene Healy and Timothy Lynch

Gene Healy is senior editor and author of Arrogance of Power Reborn: The Imperial Presidency and Foreign Policy in the Clinton Years. Timothy Lynch is director of the Project on Criminal Justice and author of Dereliction of Duty: The Constitutional Record of President Clinton.

Executive Summary

In recent judicial confirmation battles, President Bush has repeatedly—and correctly—stressed fidelity to the Constitution as the key qualification for service as a judge. It is also the key qualification for service as the nation's chief executive. On January 20, 2005, for the second time, Mr. Bush took the presidential oath of office set out in the Constitution, swearing to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." With five years of the Bush administration behind us, we have more than enough evidence to make an assessment about the president's commitment to our fundamental legal charter

Unfortunately, far from defending the Constitution, President Bush has repeatedly sought to strip out the limits the document places on federal power. In its official legal briefs and public actions, the Bush administration has advanced a view of federal power that is astonishingly broad....

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