Cheney: Obama 'not likely to cede authority'

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16594.html



12/16/2008

Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that President-elect Barack Obama will “appreciate” the expansions of executive power achieved during the Bush administration and is unlikely to cede authority back to Congress.

“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 during an interview on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show.

“We did not exceed our constitutional authority, as some have suggested,” Cheney insisted. “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 also said that he doubts Obama will close the detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay, despite campaign promises to do so.

“Guantanamo has been very, very valuable. And I think they'll discover that trying to close it is a very hard proposition,” he said.

“Remember, these are unlawful combatants,” Cheney explained. “These are people who don't belong to any recognized military force. They don't obey the rules of warfare. 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.”