Promises, promises

Tom Waseleski

President Obama has done a good job so far of bringing change to the White House.  One of the most dramatic turnarounds was his announcement yesterday repudiating the Bush ban on federal dollars for stem-cell research. More broadly, Obama said he, unlike his predecessor, would not let ideology, religion or politics trump science in his administration.

That's all to the good. But the president was less inspiring on fulfilling two other campaign pledges: ending the earmarks that let lawmakers work pet projects into spending packages and refusing to tack on signing statements that enable a president to qualify his support or enforcement of new laws passed by Congress.

One reason Capitol Hill is in turmoil over the omnibus spending bill is that it's loaded with earmarks from both Democrats and Republicans, and Obama -- disappointingly --  has not said he would veto such a bill. As to the signing statements, the president yesterday tried to assure Americans that he will part company with his predecessor in the use of such legislative qualifiers, but he left himself a big loophole. He said, "I will issue signing statements to address constitutional concerns only when it is appropriate to do so as a means of discharging my constitutional responsibilities." Spoken like George W. Bush. 

Candidate Obama made some important points about the evils of earmarks and signing statements. President Obama needs to demonstrate he's still serious about both. These are promises worth keeping.