Obama Breaks Campaign Pledge...Again

President Obama on Friday did as president when he said as presidential candidate he would never do.

He signed into law the hard-fought legislation to fund government and keep it running through the end of September, but he said he won't recognize the elimination of funding for the numerous "czars" he has appointed. As a candidate, he swore he'd never take such action.

The president signed the legislation based on the deal he negotiated last week with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that cuts nearly $40 billion from the government through the end of this fiscal years and advances several policy goals.

But Obama took the key step of issuing a signing statement, a declaration of constitutional interpretation by a president of legislation he or she might sign into law. It essentially notified lawmakers that he would not abide by the section of the law defunding the establishment of so-called "czars." Obama has employed a good number of these informal policy advisers who aren't subject to Senate confirmation, drawing the ire of congressional Republicans and prompting them to include in their spending bill a provision barring the use of federal funds for czars.

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