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The damage done by the Bush administration to the rule of law occurred over a few years - relatively quickly in legal terms. Repairing it will be a much longer task, as repairing always is. For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears.

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee has cultivated a pugnacious persona, but on financial reform he may be fighting for the wrong side. For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears.

Troop levels and insurgency strategies have dominated the discussion about Afghanistan, but there may be an important ulterior motive for those in favor of a ramped up military effort. For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears.

Various attempts to reform the financial system are bouncing around the capitol these days. The reaction of one of Wall Street's biggest players to them may be as good an indicator as any of how serious they are. For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears.

The health care debate and last weekend's activities in the capitol produced some high profile disagreements on the left. Part of it is the tug of war to set the party agenda, but part of it is also in the Democrats' DNA. For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears.

A long delayed report, a fine piece of investigative journalism and a recent scientific study have combined to seriously erode the credibility of arguments popularized by "24." Its influence will long outlast the series, though. For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears.

This week the House Majority Leader came out strongly against revoking the telecom amnesty passed in last year's FISA Amendment Act. Taken together with his other major policy positions, has anyone done more active harm to the left's priorities? For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears.

The attorney general announced a new policy for the executive branch's treatment of the state secrets privilege. But it is not so much a bold step towards greater openness as lipstick on a pig. For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently weighed in against a Democratic health care reform proposal, calling it a legal fiction. It may be opposing it on grounds that are a moral one. Cross posted from Pruning Shears.

The refrain from Washington has been that we need to look forward and not investigate credible allegations of wrongdoing. Such an approach has become something of a Beltway tradition, but this time it looks especially perverse. For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears.