Bush vetoes water projects bill (but veto proof in Both chambers)

[rodeodance]

Source: ap




Bush vetoes water projects bill

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - An increasingly confrontational President Bush on Friday vetoed a bill authorizing hundreds of popular water projects even though lawmakers can count enough votes to override him.


Bush brushed aside significant objections from Capitol Hill, even from Republicans, in thwarting legislation that provides money for projects like repairing hurricane damage, restoring wetlands and preventing flooding in communities across the nation.
.............

"When we override this irresponsible veto, perhaps the president will finally recognize that Congress is an equal branch of government and reconsider his many other reckless veto threats," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

"More than two years after failing to respond to the devastation and destruction of Hurricane Katrina, he is refusing to fund important projects guided by the Army Corps of Engineers that are essential to protecting the people of the Gulf Coast region."

..........

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_veto_8

---

WHO is the heck is advising him?????

[annabanana]

1. Will THIS be the first override? Perhaps then the Dam will break.

I Think that the Senate, once it sees how it feels to put B*sh in his place, will look around and say "Hey. That felt good!"

[rodeodance]

5. ha ha

[rodeodance]

2. other bills vetoed by Bush:

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Bush vetoes bills, claims "Congress is not getting its work done"
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2175499#2175499
2175499, Bush vetoes bills, claims "Congress is not getting its work done"
Posted by ProSense on Wed Oct-31-07 12:37 PM

Bush: Congress is not getting its work done:

Democrats quickly fired back. Jim Manley, senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said, "Taking advice from President Bush about fiscal responsibility and getting things done for the American people is like taking hunting lessons from Dick Cheney. Neither is a very good idea."


Bush: Congress ‘Wasted Time’ Trying To End Iraq War

Fact is, important bills are being passed by Congress with veto-proof majorities. Bush has vetoed two key bills and Republicans have blocked, are blocking others.

Kerry on Senate passage of Passenger Rail Act:

“For 150 years, trains have connected America’s cities and served as much needed economic stimuli for communities across the nation. In recent years a Republican Congress stood in the way of investing in and modernizing our railways. On Tuesday, the Senate reversed this trend, fully funded the Northeast Corridor, and took steps to ensure that years into the future passenger rails will continue to get Americans where they need to go in a quick, safe, and efficient manner. This Act is a smart economic investment for our state,” said Senator Kerry. “I’m proud to be a co-sponsor and will continue to work to improve passenger rail service throughout Massachusetts and across the country.”

Roll Call (70 - 22) (another veto-proof majority):

NAYs ---22
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Craig (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)

Senate reverses Bush’s budget cuts.

By a 75-19 vote, the Senate gave bipartisan approval to a huge health and education spending bill that will likely be the first of the fiscal 2008 spending bills Democrats will ship to the White House to start a veto battle involving the budget for almost every domestic agency.


Roadblock Republicans in action:

In August, the Senate unanimously passed their bipartisan disaster relief bill (S. 163). However, Republicans in the Senate are blocking the bill from moving to the President’s desk by refusing to appoint members to a conference committee to negotiate differences with a disaster assistance bill passed by the House of Representatives.


H.R. 2: A bill to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for an increase in the Federal minimum wage. Senate roll call, 94 - 3

AMERICA COMPETES ACT (PDF): Senate roll call, 88 - 8.

Ethics Reform Bill signed into law in September.

Senate passes SCHIP - 67 - 29

Bills vetoed by Bush
H.R.976 : An act to amend title XXI of the Social Security Act to extend and improve the Children's Health Insurance Program, and for other purposes. 10/3/2007: Vetoed by President.

S.5 : A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for human embryonic stem cell research. 6/20/2007: Vetoed by President.

Bush's nerve: worst president ever desperately trying to project failure onto Congress



Oops! Edited to add minimum wage bill.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Now his Presidential agenda has been reduced to just being a spiteful shit.

[rodeodance]

13. being spiteful is a hallmark of a bully

[bluestateguy]

4. Pork is in the eye of the beholder

It's easy to call a bicycle trail in Norfolk, Virginia "pork", if you don't live in Norfolk.

[Thothmes]

27. Pork

Why is it the responsibility of the tax payers of the United States to pay for a bicycle trail in Norfolk, VA. I would assume that if the voters of Norfolk wanted a bicycle trail, they should pay for it. Maybe at the outside, the voters of the State of Virginia help pay for it. But why in hell is it assumed that the this is a justifiable expense for the entire nations taxpayer?

[bhikkhu]

30. The same could be said about nearly every federal expenditure

with the exception of "defense" spending. But I would rather my taxes went to a bicycle trail for the good people of Norfolk than shiny new armored hummers, or another billion or two bullets, or tactical nukes.

[Thothmes]

31. federal expenditure

But why should the Federal government collect taxes from you or me for a bike trail in Norfolk or a Packard Museum in Ohio. The answer is that they should not be collecting the taxes for those purposes. The tax the Feds collect should be sufficient to pay for those programs that are clearly Federal in nature and not for every Dem or Repub to grease their reelection chances. JMO

[XemaSab]

28. Like it's easy to call a levee in NOLA "pork"

if you live on a pig farm in Crawford, TX. :P

[rodeodance]

6. oh ho-------he is vetoing Katrina money!

"More than two years after failing to respond to the devastation and destruction of Hurricane Katrina, he is refusing to fund important projects guided by the Army Corps of Engineers that are essential to protecting the people of the Gulf Coast region."

[rodeodance]

7. # Bush pleads for Mukasey's confirmation AP, 19 minutes ago

[Up2Late]

8. Who's advising him? I'll tell you what I think this is...

...either one of three things is happening here:

1) Karl Rove left Bush with the parting advice of, VETO Everything the Democrats send you, because it will make you look 'tough' and make them look ineffective and weak, because with such a narrow majority, most of the time they won't be able to get enough ReThuglican support for an override...

or

2) Rove is still running the show form his undisclosed location, and giving him the same advice as above...

or the most scary possibilities...

3) He's just going with "his gut" and doing things the way he knows best, which is, just be an A-hole to the people on the other side, which is exactly how "his base" would handle it.

[AzDar]

9. I'm thinkin' it's '2'.

Probably still drawing his salary, too.

[BrklynLib at work]

10. His inner three-year-old is getting harder and harder to contain...

[krispos42]

11. This is excellent news

This will be overriden. Once a veto override happens, doing it again becomes easier and easier. I hope it become an addictive habit!

[rockybelt]

12. Just wait

Bush will become completely unhinged when veto's start getting overridden. His true mental state is starting to show!

[bif]

14. And how much is he asking for Iraq? $46 billion?

But we can't spend anything to improve our lives back here. That's irresponsible.

[mvd]

15. I am VERY happy we have the votes to override!

Gotta break the ice first.

[AlinPA]

16. Is override automatic or do they vote formally to override? If the latter,

I look for R's to change their vote to support their "leader".

[EST]

29. It's an automatic override if the majority in that body voted for the

measure in numbers sufficient to override.
For instance, if the senate votes for a measure with sixty seven or more "ayes," but the house passes it with fewer than a supermajority, a veto has to be overridden only in the house.

[EST]

35. I was wrong--please pardon me, friends...

This--from the US constitution, clause 2, section 4 of article 1:
When the president vetoes a bill,
".. he shall return it, with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two- thirds of that house, it shall become a law..."

Basically, if the house did not pass it with a two thirds majority, and the president vetoes it, it goes back to the house for a reconsideration. If it is re-passed there, with a veto proof majority, it still must go back to the senate for a re-vote, which also must again be veto-proof.

If this happens successfully, it goes straight into law. There's where the republicans have us by the curlies (and why the democrats have to kiss ass--and other unmentionable things and the republicans know it) and they--the nutlery--have four chances of sidelining any real liberal legislation. Well, five chances with the idiot's veto and signing statements.

When the Constitution was confirmed, the concept of parties was hoped not to be a factor-they were wrong, or should I say--overly optimistic.

There's a good treatment of this at findlaw, for those historically minded at this link:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=248&invol=276

I gave bad advice on the previous post, for which I apologize; but it was a good thing, as I needed (obviously) to refresh my grasp of eighth-grade civics.

[truthisfreedom]

17. Maybe bush read this interview with James Lovelock in Rolling Stone:

Maybe that's why he doesnt' want to spend any more money on NOLA. Despite his usual despicable behavior, sometimes I wonder if NOLA will exist in a couple of decades.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16956300/the_prophet_of_climate_change_james_lovelock/1

[gulliver]

18. Bush would be hurt more by one well-placed putdown ...

... than a veto override. Overriding Bush actually helps his image and that of the GOP members of Congress. Reid's comment seems pretty lame unfortunately. The point should not be to override Bush's vetos but to break the spell that keeps Bush from being seen for what he is. The override is just publicity. Calling the veto irresponsible is lame. Calling Bush a weaselly little rich punk with no business anywhere near the presidency, priceless.

[tabasco]

19. Nothing matters to the piece of shit other than his goddamn war.

Worst President ever!

James Buchanan and the other nominees are off the hook.

[Judi Lynn]

20. Bush vetoes water-projects bill

Source: Miami Herald

Bush vetoes water-projects bill
President Bush vetoed a bundle of water projects, including part of the Everglades restoration, but Congress seems determined to resist him.
Posted on Sat, Nov. 03, 2007
By DAVID LIGHTMAN
[email protected]

WASHINGTON -- President Bush vetoed a $23 billion water-projects bill on Friday, calling it a ''pork barrel system . . . where a project's merit is an afterthought'' and triggering what's likely to be the Congress' first successful override of a Bush veto.
(snip)

The Water Resources Development Act would pay for more than 900 projects around the country to help restore and bolster wetlands, as well as control flooding and damage from hurricanes and other weather-related incidents.

The bill would permit billions to be spent on wetlands, flood control, hurricane mitigation and coastal restoration in Louisiana; the revival of the Florida Everglades; new locks on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers; and dozens of dredging, wetland restoration and flood control efforts around the country.
(snip)

In vetoing the water bill, however, Bush is bucking dozens of fellow Republicans.
Staunch Bush backers -- from Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida to Miami Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Díaz-Balart -- said they're ready to vote to override the presidential veto. The Water Resources Development Act contains more than $2 billion for Everglades restoration efforts.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/294239.html

[bluestateguy]

21. I have a theory on this

He vetoed it--a budgetarily meaningless bill, really--to give Republicans in Congress a political freebie to vote against him on the override vote. Then they can use that as a talking point in 2008.

[rodeodance]

22. This bill contains lots of Katrina money also

[Lorien]

23. Those Everglades restoration projects have only been put off since

oh, let's see, his BROTHER took office down here?

So much for learning from recent history. If they don't know how valuable wetlands are by now after Katrina, there's no hope for them. None whatsoever.

And pork barrel projects? How about IRAQ??? That's one MASSIVE pork project that only benefits oil and contractor/ weapons interests.

[WindRavenX]

25. seriously

He calls Katrina repairs "pork"? :wtf:

[CountAllVotes]

24. K&R

:dem: :kick:

[Uncle Joe]

26. I wonder if he'll try to put a signing statement on their override of his veto? n/t

[NoodleyAppendage]

32. How about providing the monies for desalination plants off the SE coast?

Flood planning is great, but it appears that water PRODUCTION is the more serious threat to the citizenry. Veto that Chimperior.

J

[orleans]

33. explaination for a dickhead:

"Bush objected to the $9 billion in projects added during negotiations between the House and Senate. He hoped that his action, even though it is sure not to hold, would cast him as a friend to conservatives who demand a tighter rein on federal spending."

from your link

[silverweb]

34. Exactly the line I was about to emphasize.

"Tighter rein on federal spending," my ass.

It's not how much they're spending that bothers him, but what they're spending it on.

Water projects to benefit the people of the nation -- or war spending to further fascist/corporate interests?

It's a no brainer for him. :grr: