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America’s founding fathers created a Constitution meant to govern the country for the hundreds of years that would follow. They incorporated contingency plans for many situations; planning for times of war, peace, economic depression, etc. The Bush Administration, however, regards the ages-old document as “just a goddamned scrap of paper.” The Constitution is far more than the administration acknoweldges. Bush’s attitude about the document alone is not the problem; it’s the way he’s acting upon it. The Constitution as written was meant to be interpreted by the courts, not by the president. The Iraq War, however, has provided Mr. Bush with an exemplary opportunity to seize powers for the executive.

In effect, Mr. Bush is planning on racking up an extraordinary bill in Iraq and presenting it to Congress without their prior commitment. Recent events highlight the extent to which Mr. Bush is willing to go to achieve what the President claims is, “a better chance for success” in Iraq. Bush’s speech Wednesday night called for a commitment of 20,000 troops but made no mention of the appropriations to fund Bush’s new plan. After all, Congress is the only governmental agency that posesses the “power of the purse.” Still, Bush forged on, claiming that enough money is in governmental coffers to begin his plan. By the time extra troops are on the ground, “it will be too late for Congress to stop them.”

Apparently Bush wasn’t confident enough in his earlier attempt to garner financing from an unfriendly Congress. In an interview Sunday night with 60 Minutes, Bush noted that he would send troops to Iraq regardless of what Congress’ wishes were. Bush was asked if he had the authority to send troops to Iraq regardless of Congress’ wishes. His reply was an ugly affront to the principles of the Constitution, “I think I’ve got, in this situation I do, yeah. I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I’ve made my decision. And we’re going forward.”

Congress does have the right to limit funding for Bush’s project. The Center for American Progress mentions several key examples of funding revocations, including personnel ceilings in Vietnam and Lebanon. Can it be done? With an increasingly uncooperative White House, Congress seems not to stand a chance. Unfortunately, the tide of public opinion will sway to the President on this issue. If more troops are indeed sent to Iraq without congressional approval, limiting funding would seem almost patriotic.

Some Congressmen haven’t given up the fight. This week, Ted Kennedy announced legislation demanding accountability for the new Iraq policy. Think Progress obtained key parts of Kennedy’s legislation and a summary from his office.

The legislation claims the people’s right to a full voice in the President’s plan to send more troops into the Iraq civil war. It says that no funds can be spent to send additional troops to Iraq unless Congress approves the President’s proposed escalation of American forces.

Think Progress » Kennedy Introduces Bill Requiring Congressional Approval For Iraq Escalation

Kennedy’s begs an important question: should such limitations of presidential power be necessary to begin with? The Constitution clearly delineated the roles of every branch of government. The Bush Administration seems to have rearranged the tree of government and allowed the executive to obtain an exorbitant amount of power. A New York Times editorial entitled “Picking Up the Pieces” highlights Bush’s problem, claiming “It was surreal how disconnected President Bush was the other night, both from Iraq’s horrifying reality and America’s anguish over this unnecessary, mismanaged and now unwinnable war.” The editorial, however, left out the most crucial disconnect of all: the relationship between Mr. Bush and the Constitution.

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The “I’ll Write the Check, You Balance The Checkbook”: The Fall of Checks & Balances in America by New School Politics, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.