lily
11-02-2007, 12:06 AM
He wants a clean bill......with no add ons. (http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1007/103007cdpm1.htm)
Bush says he will veto 'three-bill pileup'
By Keith Koffler and Christian
Bourge CongressDaily October 30, 2007
Using some of the sharpest rhetoric of his presidency, President Bush
attacked congressional Democrats Tuesday on an array of fronts, charging
them with wasting time while seeking to raise taxes and overspend.
Bush, who spoke following a White House meeting with House Republicans,
derided as a "cynical political strategy" a move being considered to combine
the Defense and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs spending bills with a
Labor-Health and Human Services measure that Bush says is overpriced.
"I will veto such a three-bill pileup," Bush declared while flanked by House
Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo. A
decision to combine the bills has not been made, although Democratic leaders
are leaning in that direction.
This is the second week in a row the president has bashed Congress and he
repeated his demand that Congress pass a "clean" Military Construction-VA
Appropriations bill by Veterans Day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
........but wait a minute......let's look what's in the bill he wants. (-iraq-request-include_n_70512.html)
In a shift of strategy that indicates an increasingly weakened political
position, President Bush has included at least $2.51 billion for projects
unrelated to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in his latest "emergency"
supplemental request.
The additional funding belies Bush's repeated calls for spending bills
without assorted extras.
On Tuesday, the president criticized Democrats' for pursuing the "cynical"
political strategy of tying education and health spending bills to defense
and veterans funds in order to get the money past a threatened veto.
Congress should pass "clean" defense spending bills, Bush insisted.
It was similar to a call Bush made last week when he unveiled his proposal
for $46 billion in additional supplemental spending to fund the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
In considering the new request, Congress "should pass a good, clean bill as
soon as possible," so that troops could the bullets and body armor they
needed, Bush said.
But an analysis of the president's own supplemental request shows that he
might be willing to muddy the waters a little bit, if it means that he can
get an unpopular spending bill through Congress.
Tucked within the president's proposal are hundreds of millions of dollars
for spending in countries as far-flung as Mexico, Central America, Sudan,
Gaza, the West Bank, Pakistan, Djibouti and North Korea.
Among the programs folded into the war supplemental are $500 million in
assistance to Mexico to fight organized crime and narcotics trafficking,
$350 million in food aid to Africa and $723 million for peacekeeping and
humanitarian aid in Darfur.
Although the dollar figures are a drop in the bucket compared to the overall
funding request, they show that the president is trying to use non-war
related items to win over lawmakers who might be wary of a supplemental
spending package that the public largely opposes.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted in late September showed that only
a quarter of those surveyed supported the president's entire war spending
plan, which now approaches $200 billion for fiscal year 2008.
"From a political standpoint it's a smart move," said one official at a
D.C.-based anti-war advocacy group. "Ideally he would have submitted [the
other items] as one-line item supplementals."
Other items include $106 million in energy assistance for North Korea, $35
million for refugees in the West Bank and Gaza, and $80.2 million for
construction of dining and water facilities at a military base in Djibouti.
Democrats have said they will not consider the new war-funding plan until
next year. As with all spending bills, the president's budget request is
simply a proposal, and it will be up to lawmakers in the House of
Representatives to craft the actual legislation.
Bush says he will veto 'three-bill pileup'
By Keith Koffler and Christian
Bourge CongressDaily October 30, 2007
Using some of the sharpest rhetoric of his presidency, President Bush
attacked congressional Democrats Tuesday on an array of fronts, charging
them with wasting time while seeking to raise taxes and overspend.
Bush, who spoke following a White House meeting with House Republicans,
derided as a "cynical political strategy" a move being considered to combine
the Defense and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs spending bills with a
Labor-Health and Human Services measure that Bush says is overpriced.
"I will veto such a three-bill pileup," Bush declared while flanked by House
Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo. A
decision to combine the bills has not been made, although Democratic leaders
are leaning in that direction.
This is the second week in a row the president has bashed Congress and he
repeated his demand that Congress pass a "clean" Military Construction-VA
Appropriations bill by Veterans Day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
........but wait a minute......let's look what's in the bill he wants. (-iraq-request-include_n_70512.html)
In a shift of strategy that indicates an increasingly weakened political
position, President Bush has included at least $2.51 billion for projects
unrelated to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in his latest "emergency"
supplemental request.
The additional funding belies Bush's repeated calls for spending bills
without assorted extras.
On Tuesday, the president criticized Democrats' for pursuing the "cynical"
political strategy of tying education and health spending bills to defense
and veterans funds in order to get the money past a threatened veto.
Congress should pass "clean" defense spending bills, Bush insisted.
It was similar to a call Bush made last week when he unveiled his proposal
for $46 billion in additional supplemental spending to fund the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
In considering the new request, Congress "should pass a good, clean bill as
soon as possible," so that troops could the bullets and body armor they
needed, Bush said.
But an analysis of the president's own supplemental request shows that he
might be willing to muddy the waters a little bit, if it means that he can
get an unpopular spending bill through Congress.
Tucked within the president's proposal are hundreds of millions of dollars
for spending in countries as far-flung as Mexico, Central America, Sudan,
Gaza, the West Bank, Pakistan, Djibouti and North Korea.
Among the programs folded into the war supplemental are $500 million in
assistance to Mexico to fight organized crime and narcotics trafficking,
$350 million in food aid to Africa and $723 million for peacekeeping and
humanitarian aid in Darfur.
Although the dollar figures are a drop in the bucket compared to the overall
funding request, they show that the president is trying to use non-war
related items to win over lawmakers who might be wary of a supplemental
spending package that the public largely opposes.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted in late September showed that only
a quarter of those surveyed supported the president's entire war spending
plan, which now approaches $200 billion for fiscal year 2008.
"From a political standpoint it's a smart move," said one official at a
D.C.-based anti-war advocacy group. "Ideally he would have submitted [the
other items] as one-line item supplementals."
Other items include $106 million in energy assistance for North Korea, $35
million for refugees in the West Bank and Gaza, and $80.2 million for
construction of dining and water facilities at a military base in Djibouti.
Democrats have said they will not consider the new war-funding plan until
next year. As with all spending bills, the president's budget request is
simply a proposal, and it will be up to lawmakers in the House of
Representatives to craft the actual legislation.