WASHINGTON, June 18, 2008
Congress Overrides Bush Veto On Farm Bill
Congress Enacts $290 Billion Farm Bill For Second Time, After Clerical Error On First Try
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(AP / file)
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Interactive Bush Presidency The president's agenda, plus facts, figures, major events and key personalities.
The Senate voted 80-14 to override President Bush's veto of the legislation, more than the two-thirds majority necessary to enact it. Bush vetoed the bill for a second time earlier Wednesday, and the House voted 317-109 to override it a few hours later.
Most of the bill was enacted in May, when both the House and Senate easily overrode Bush's first veto of the legislation. But 34 pages of the bill that would extend foreign aid programs were mistakenly missing from the parchment copy Congress sent to the White House, so that section did not become law.
To ensure the aid continues amid a global hunger crisis - and to prevent future legal challenges - Congress and Bush again passed, vetoed and enacted the entire bill to provide farm subsidies, food stamps and other nutrition programs over the next five years.
The mistake has delayed shipments of food to Ethiopia, Myanmar and Somalia, said Stephen Driesler, the U.S. Agency for International Development's deputy assistant administrator for legislative and public affairs.
"We have orders ready to go," Driesler said.
Bush contends that the legislation, which extends agriculture and nutrition programs, is too expensive and too generous with subsidies for farmers. He opposed the legislation from the start and began threatening to veto it last July.
He said Congress missed an opportunity to make the bill better when it was passed a second time.
"For a year and a half, I have consistently asked that the Congress pass a good farm bill that I can sign," Bush said after he vetoed the bill for the second time. "Regrettably, the Congress has failed to do so. At a time of high food prices and record farm income, this bill lacks program reform and fiscal discipline."
About two-thirds of the farm law pays for domestic nutrition programs such as food stamps, which will see increases of around $1 billion a year. About $40 billion is for farm subsidies, and almost $30 billion will go to farmers to protect environmentally sensitive farmland.
Congress has overridden Bush on only one other bill - a measure authorizing $23 billion in water projects that was enacted in November.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- Teenagers in mass. need these food stamps to feed thier *** american children who are lice on the system before they leave the hosptal.
- Reply to this comment
- Strange, isn''t it...Nancy Pelosi''s husband will benefit by several millions from this farm bill.
And of course the BS about the Enron loophole is just posturing. By the time the bill actually gets written...it won''t be worth the paper it''s written on.
Posted by RowdyWicca at 09:52 AM : Jun 19, 2008
Yeah, real strange you would post a lie like that, considering a statement from Ken Boehm, head of the CONSERVATIVE National Legal and Policy Center in Virginia.
Boehm spent months last year looking into Pelosi''s financial records, campaign contributions, and legislative records, looking for any hint of impropriety.
Boehm said, "There was no sign that she enriched herself personally by her official actions. She didn''t cross the line as far as I could tell."
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/
But, of course, rowdy isn''t going to believe anything that SHE doesn''t MAKE UP. - Reply to this comment
- Strange, isn''''t it...Nancy Pelosi''''s husband will benefit by several millions from this farm bill.
And of course the BS about the Enron loophole is just posturing. By the time the bill actually gets written...it won''''t be worth the paper it''''s written on.
Posted by RowdyWicca at 09:52 AM : Jun 19, 2008
Really?? Source?? Oh, you have none.
What''s strange is that you pick the damnedest things to accuse democrats of doing. You''re scraping the bottom of the barrel, rowdy, and it''s all lies, lies, lies.
I would have thought that you, if you are as smart as you pretend to be, would have picked the fact that Pelosi supports the farmworkers union but does NOT use union workers to pick the grapes in her vineyard.
LOL!!! There is lots of information, good and bad, on the internet about the Pelosis but there is NOTHING about Paul Pelosi making millions from the farm bill.
Do you get your information from Peter Schweizer, Melanie Morgan, Matt Drudge, and Sean Hannity?
Why don''t you help me out and post your source?
OBTW: If you don''t like Pelosi it''s very likely that you are a republican and would have never voted for Hillary. - Reply to this comment
- "Yeah, Bushit thinks you red state farmers make too much money! So many of you voted for the clown--now suck it up!"
This is what''s so sad. Lower-income people who support Dubya are the very ones who have been completely screwed by this administration, and they don''t see it. Dubya has a way of successfully portraying himself as their champion, when in fact he''s just the opposite. But answer this: What self-respecting, hard-working farmer or blue-collar worker would place faith in a college male cheerleader who''s never hit a lick in his life?? - Reply to this comment
- "Strange, isn''''t it...Nancy Pelosi''''s husband will benefit by several millions from this farm bill.
And of course the BS about the Enron loophole is just posturing. ...it won''''t be worth the paper it''''s written on.
Posted by RowdyWicca at 09:52 AM : Jun 19, 2008"
Or really ? How much Halliburton is making per quarter 2 billions net profit from the past 5 years. Why it never happened in the 84 year company''s history. Ask VP he will tell.
Why Bear Sterns bailed out and republicans in congress filibuster the bill aimed at common borrower. Ask Prez. because grand father (Prescot Bush) who started career as a banker and became senator later. - Reply to this comment
- "Strange, isn''''t it...Nancy Pelosi''''s husband will benefit by several millions from this farm bill.
And of course the BS about the Enron loophole is just posturing. ...it won''''t be worth the paper it''''s written on.
Posted by RowdyWicca at 09:52 AM : Jun 19, 2008"
Or really ? How much Halliburton is making per quarter 2 billions net profit from the past 5 years. Why it never happened in the 84 year company''s history. Ask VP he will tell.
Why Bear Sterns bailed out and republicans in congress filibuster the bill aimed at common borrower. Ask Prez. because grand father (Prescot Bush) who started career as a banker and became senator later. - Reply to this comment
- When dubya came to office , he said he was a uniter. He has certainly united his party with the democrats for a bipartisan bill. Good job dubya
- Reply to this comment
- Strange, isn''t it...Nancy Pelosi''s husband will benefit by several millions from this farm bill.
And of course the BS about the Enron loophole is just posturing. By the time the bill actually gets written...it won''t be worth the paper it''s written on. - Reply to this comment
- For those of you who talk but don''t know what this bill is about let me tell you.
It is called the farm bill but what it does and the lions bulk of it is to provide nutrition for people.
So stop listening to the right wing noise machine they don''t want you to know that once again they want to stop from helping American''s.
Thank GOP we are not as dumb as you think. - Reply to this comment
- "Congress Overrides Bush Veto On Farm Bill"
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Spend, spend, spend.
This government is broken. Both parties.
This country is in the hands of lobbyists, not "the people". - Reply to this comment
- i love lame ducks
- Reply to this comment
- How did McSame vote? He''s a senator, isn''t he?
- Reply to this comment
- "Bush said "At a time of high food prices and record farm income, this bill lacks program reform and fiscal discipline."
Yeah, Bushit thinks you red state farmers make too much money!
So many of you voted for the clown--now suck it up!
You''re not producing petroleum are you? So why did you expect to make a profit?
Lucky those "pinkos" in Congress voted to support you.
The Bushit Neocons could care less--they would rather import food from China so their buddies can get a rake-off.
Duh! - Reply to this comment
- Hey George,,,*** you and fiscal discipline! Are you kidding me??? When did you ever have ANY fiscal discipline?? Idiot.
- Reply to this comment
- Posted by TruUSA at 05:18 AM : Jun 19, 2008
Okay, You don''t like Obama... So dazzle us! Give us a reason, any reason, why we should vote for McSame!! I''ve looked VERY carefully at his proposals on the Economy, Social Security, Medicare, Health Care, Trade, Iraq... I can see NO, NONE, Na Da, difference between what his position is and that of Sir Lies-A-Lot. If I were you I''d start trying to convince people that "Staying the Course" with Bush''s Policies is the right thing to do because THAT is what McSame wants to do!! Ready??? Sing it out!! SIEG HEIL BUSH!! - Reply to this comment
- It Lacks '' Fiscal responsibility '' W ,says !!!!!!!
Since WHEN Does W Know ANYTHING about Fiscal responsibility ????????
King W Is SUCH a JOKE !
McSame is about " The same " well,er ,uh,.." What did they tell me to say here ? "
These " IDIOTS " are Icons of The RepubliCon Sect !
History will Clearly show W as an Inept Criminal who dragged down Not Only the USA,But the Entire Planet ! - Reply to this comment
- The mistake has delayed shipments of food to Ethiopia, Myanmar and Somalia, said Stephen Driesler, the U.S. Agency for International Development''s deputy assistant administrator for legislative and public affairs.
I do feel sorry for those people in the above paragraph, but who''s going to send us aid?
We can not keep sending aid around the world, when we need it as well.
When the last depression hit, it was amid a great drought. This time, it wil hit amid great floods.
Think about it. - Reply to this comment
- "After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes," Taguba wrote. "The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account." Posted by watcher269
Many of us knew this since the beginning, Taguba''s statement only confirms after the fact what we predicted beforehand.
Now it is up to us to keep the pressure on our legislature to press for the arrest and trials of all those complicit in Bush''s deceit, and the sanctions of all who allow it to continue. - Reply to this comment
- "Some nice cleavage though." Posted by galvestontex
Looking at cleavage that most likely wouldn''t give me the time of day because of my,
1. ethnic heritage
2. religious views
3. political views
4. economic status
For some reason doesn''t turn me on the least bit.
Give me Rosario Dawson any day, in fact every day. - Reply to this comment
- Here''s REAL News
WASHINGTON %u2014 The Army general who led the investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq''s Abu Ghraib prison accused the Bush administration Wednesday of committing "war crimes" and called for those responsible to be held to account.
The remarks by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who''s now retired, came in a new report that found that U.S. personnel tortured and abused detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, using beatings, electrical shocks, sexual humiliation and other cruel practices.
"After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes," Taguba wrote. "The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account." - Reply to this comment
