Cheney: Obama Will "Appreciate" Our Expansion Of Power

In an interview with Rush Limbaugh (via Politico), Vice President Dick Cheney predicted that the next president will appreciate the way he and George Bush expanded executive power.

"Once they get here and they're faced with the same problems we deal with every day, then they will appreciate some of the things we've put in place," Cheney said.

"We did not exceed our constitutional authority, as some have suggested," Cheney added. "The President believes, I believe very deeply, in a strong executive, and I think that's essential in this day and age. And I think the Obama administration is not likely to cede that authority back to the Congress. I think they'll find that given a challenge they face, they'll need all the authority they can muster."

Cheney went on to express doubt that President Obama would, as he has promised, close Guantanamo Bay.

"Guantanamo has been very, very valuable. And I think they'll discover that trying to close it is a very hard proposition," he said. "They're unlawful combatants. And you if you're not going to have a place to locate them like Guantanamo, then you either have to bring them here to the continental United States and I don't know any member of Congress who's volunteering to have al Qaeda terrorists deposited in his district."

Cheney also expressed grave concerns about the automobile industry.

"We're on the downside of a recession that may be the worst since World War II," he said. "And if the automobile industry goes belly up now, there's a deep concern that that would be a major shock to the system."

Comments

[JerryG1]

Appreciate that they set the bar so low?

[OneVoiceRising]

"And I think the Obama administration is not likely to cede that authority back to the Congress."

Cheney has issued a challenge . No surprise there.

My hope is that Obama will use what I do indeed see as Bushco's unconstitutional authority to reverse unconstitutional actions; I hope he does it with transparency...and then return integrity to the White House, and America.

[thebyron]

Cheney's justification for the unprecedented expansion of the executive branch: "The President believes, I believe very deeply, in a strong executive."

What he believes in DOESN'T MATTER, CHENEY...what matters is the Constitution! That's what you two have failed to understand these past eight years. Your theory of the unitary executive is appalling, and I'm guessing (hoping) that with his background in constitutional law President Obama will be less than thrilled with your power grab. He and Biden have already declared that they would not follow your ridiculous interpretation of the VP position as somehow outside of the government (belonging neither to the executive nor to the legislative branch).

34 more days....

[Meah]

He is just going to have to do more work to undo all of the damage they did, including their invasiveness into our lives. Maybe he can give us our privacy back.

[Bulbul]

The gall...of this war criminal is exasperating !

[2178743]

We will see were all of you that are so concerned with Bush's alleged disregard for the Constitution go when Obama and the democratic congress bring back the fairness doctrine. The hypocrisy will be rampant.

http://www.usefulopinions.blogspot.com

[Yorksgal]

Alleged????????

If you are okay with Bush/Cheney abusing their office - then you must be for any holders of that office.

Stop listening to right wing news and their hysteria re: fairness doctrine.

[amluvinit2]

Nothing alleged about it. Bush and Cheney are two dillusional human beings who think they ran the country just fine. Cheney still believes Iraq, and Al-Qaeda are the same thing. Cheney has little concern for the "little people" He voted against funding for head start

[yoshi99]

Obama opposes the fairness doctrine, and the blog you link to has nothing to do with the issue -- it's just a bunch tired old baloney about how we need to stay in Iraq forever to keep the world safe and that the way to fix the economy is to lower taxes (which Obama says he's going to do).

If the right-wing blogosphere would actually focus on reality for a change, it might be able to actually participate in the debate of the future of the country. Instead, they just make up random things in the hopes Limbaugh's minions will lap them up and regurgitate them whenever given the opportunity.

[stuckinstupid]

When you pull your head out of the sand you will see the fairness Doctrine is not comming back

[bigdaddyvike]

How appropriate: "done TO the office." Sounds about right to me.

[biskitdaddy]

yeah, turned it into a cesspool

[ricehq]

I am sure that President Barack Obama's greatest regret will be that he had to follow the most inept and corrupt administration that ever existed.

[PaulRaymond]

Yes, but with the bar set so low, it will be hard not to look good.

[ibsteve2u]

Does that mean that Cheney is OK with the idea of Obama using an "Executive Order" to waive prohibitions against unlawful search and siezure and siezing all of Cheney's and the rest of PNAC's, Halliburton's, KBR's, Blackwater's, and Big Oil's records in order to discern just what they were up to? - and what minefields they may have left for Obama?

After all, going by the Bush precedent all that Obama would have to do is to justify the action on the grounds that the aforementioned individuals and entities may have taken actions that were deleterious to the nation's best interests.

And I think that is self-evident...

[rightuseofwill]

Go di of heart failure already!

[hl7]

I guess all you need to ignore the constitution is to "deeply believe" that it is necessary. I hope that the question of whether such "beliefs" are in any way lawful or reasonable will one day be examined in court. But I'm not holding my breath.

[amyeom]

Ditto.

[b93950]

Yes Dick, I’m sure President Obama will enjoy how you bankrupt America for your own gain.

[FreelanceMinion]

Maybe Obama can use all that power he will appreciate to investigate the corruption of the people who gave it to him.

[BoulderSue]

Freelance Minion: nice thought with some poetic merit, but I believe Obama can accomplish any investigations LEGALLY, after he has destroyed what Bush/Cheney/Gonzales, et. al. have done.

[Connolly1916]

35 days. Hang in there, folks.

[Donnat]

For a moment I thought that pit viper picture was meant to be with this Cheney article. My apologies to the pit viper.