WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2007
Bush Vetoes Health And Education Bill
At Same Time, President Signs $40 Billion Increase In Pentagon Budget
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President Bush speaks about the budget to business and community leaders in New Albany, Ind., Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
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He also signed a big increase in the Pentagon's non-war budget although the White House complained it contained "some unnecessary spending."
The president's action was announced on Air Force One as Mr. Bush flew to New Albany, Ind., on the Ohio River across from Louisville, Ky., for a speech criticizing the Democratic-led Congress on its budget priorities.
The White House said the $606 billion education and health was loaded with 2,000 earmarks -- lawmaker-sponsored projects that critics call pork-barrel spending -- which Mr. Bush wants stripped from the bill.
"Some of its wasteful projects include a prison museum, a sailing school taught aboard a catamaran and a Portuguese-as-a-second-language program," the president said. "Congress owes the taxpayers much better than this effort."
It was sixth bill vetoed by Mr. Bush. Congress has overridden his veto only once, on a politically popular water projects measure.
Mr. Bush hammered Democrats for what he called a tax-and-spend philosophy:
"The Congress now sitting in Washington holds this philosophy," Mr. Bush told an audience of business and community leaders. "The majority was elected on a pledge of fiscal responsibility, but so far it's acting like a teenager with a new credit card.
"This year alone, the leadership in Congress has proposed to spend $22 billion more than my budget provides," the president said. "Now, some of them claim that's not really much of a difference. The scary part is, they seem to mean it."
More than any other spending bill, the education and health measure defines the differences between Mr. Bush and majority Democrats. The House fell three votes short of winning a veto-proof margin as it sent the measure to the president.
Rep. David Obey, the Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, pounced immediately on Mr. Bush's veto.
"This is a bipartisan bill supported by over 50 Republicans," Obey said. "There has been virtually no criticism of its contents. It is clear the only reason the president vetoed this bill is pure politics."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Mr. Bush "again vetoed a bipartisan and fiscally responsible bill that addresses the priorities of the American people: education for our children, assistance in paying skyrocketing energy costs, veterans' health care, and other urgent health research on cancer and other serious medical problems. At the same time, President Bush and his congressional allies demand hundreds of billions of dollars for the war in Iraq -- none of it paid for."
Since winning re-election, Mr. Bush has sought to cut the labor, health and education measure below the prior year level. But lawmakers have rejected the cuts. The budget that Mr. Bush presented in February sought almost $4 billion in cuts to this year's bill.
Democrats responded by adding $10 billion to Mr. Bush's request for the 2008 bill. Democrats say spending increases for domestic programs are small compared with Mr. Bush's pending war request totaling almost $200 billion.
The measure provides:
The $471 billion defense budget gives the Pentagon a 9 percent, $40 billion budget increase. The measure only funds core department operations, omitting Mr. Bush's $196 billion request for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, except for an almost $12 billion infusion for new troop vehicles that are resistant to roadside bombs.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said that while the defense bill included some "unnecessary spending," the president signed it because "it is essential to deliver these funds to our military in a time of war." She said Congress consulted closely with the administration, CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports.
In contrast, Perino said the $606 billion health and education measure vetoed by the president had 2,000 earmarks. The White House said the bill was nearly $10 billion over what the president wanted. Mr. Bush will challenge lawmakers to take out the pork and reduce the overall spending level.
Much of the increase in the defense bill is devoted to procuring new and expensive weapons systems, including $6.3 billion for the next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, $2.8 billion for the Navy's DD(X) destroyer and $3.1 billion for the new Virginia-class attack submarine.
Huge procurement costs are driving the Pentagon budget ever upward. Once war costs are added in, the total defense budget will be significantly higher than during the typical Cold War year, even after adjusting for inflation.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- ''The $471 billion bill, passed 400-15, does not include President Bush''s $196 billion request for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.''
If you do not think that this country is run by the military industrial complex please read the sentence above again.
When the annual defense budget was 460 Billion it was already more than what the next 25 countries spend combined!
To put this into perspective you could take a small fraction of that and provide health care for every child in the country and feed every underprivileged kid in this country and have a sizable tax break for working families left over. - Reply to this comment
- So this is how Bush supports his "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND CAMPAIGN". Good show ''ol boy, jolly good show.
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- TO ALL AMERICA YES, CONGRESS HAS AGAIN SLAP AMERICANS RIGHT IN THE FACE WITH THIS, PLEASE DONT BELEIVE ME THAN GO AND READ THE LAW BUSH SIGN INTO LAW.
ITS CALL THE MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT 2006, AND HIDDEN IN FINE PRINT CONGRESS HAS GIVEN THEMSELFS AND ANYONE WORKING IN THE GOVERNEMNT IMMUNEITY ON ANY THING THAT HAS HAPPEN IN THE WAKE OF THE WAR,OR ANYTHING ELSE THEY CAN FIND.
THIS IS THE BEST PART, THEY BACK DATED IT TO ( 1997) why?????
why would they need to back date this all the way before 2001????
because they have been ease dropping on america way back then...think about it america, and you better think about this, cheney/bush/rumsfeld/rove/rice started this war on all lies on top of lies, and remember 18 out of 19 involved in 2001 was saudi araibans you know the king and bush hold hands walking in the woods??? and this is why bush said he doesn''t care about finding bin laddan because bin is part of the royal family that bush loves..
so if you look at the hole law, hillary help get it into law, why why why sounds funning because her husband bill was president at that time in 1997..so what are they all hideing in washington???????????????
david a belanger,veteran,us army, 978-618-3105,for-america@hotmail.com - Reply to this comment
- The neoconservative movement is a facade for the military industrial complex. The Bush administration is rewarding its cronies with defense contracts and increased oil prices. Bush has done far more damage to this country than Al Qaida could have ever had ambitions for. People who call Al Qaida "islamofascist" have not a clue as to what an actual fascist looks like.
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- Bush hates children and loves starting bogus wars...and America loves him for it.
America = Bush
Posted by shanev137
Islamofascists hate America and blame Bush for their enslavement. Islamofascists don''t like democracy. They like killing woman and children and innocents - check out Gaza. Islamofascists want world rule. America won''t let them have it and that''s why Islamofascists hate America and Bush. - Reply to this comment
- Watcher269 That is where you are wrong, President Bush most certainly did attend Vets Day in Texas as reported here in/on CBS.com. It''s just in your haste to "hate Bush" you missed it. And the VP attended the Vet Day at Wash.
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- Let Hugo Chavez give heating oil to the poor after all the "Progressives" love him as does Hollysleezewood
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- Spending on Health and Education up 1% from previous year. Hardly tax and spend. Given the rate of inflation, this is actually a budget cut.
The Commander in Chimp needs a reality check! Especially after squandering 1.4 Trillion on his Iraq fiasco! - Reply to this comment
- Bush hates children and loves starting bogus wars...and America loves him for it.
America = Bush - Reply to this comment
- Bush Vetoes Health And Education Bill
At Same Time, President Signs $40 Billion Increase In Pentagon Budget
Says it all, doesn''''t it...
Posted by brianbwb at 02:02 AM : Nov 14, 2007
...........
Yep.
It says that the companies with contracts through the Pentagon, and those who greatly benefit from those companies'' profits, gave more to Bush''s campaign over the years than the majority of middle America.
If another Neo-Con wins the White House in 2008, the first decade of the 21st century would surely be seen in history as the second Gilded Age of America. - Reply to this comment
Ex-NBA ref Tim Donaghy 
