Likening Congress to “a teenager with a new credit card,” President Bush vetoed a bill Tuesday that contained 2,000 earmarks and $10 billion more than he wants to spend.
The president did sign what he called a less objectionable bill to fund the military.
“This isn’t a perfect bill; it includes some unnecessary spending,” he told an audience in Indiana. “I signed that bill to make sure our military has the full support of the federal government.”
But Bush wielded his veto pen for the sixth time in his presidency on a bill to fund the departments of Labor and Education, as well as Health and Human Services.
“This bill is 44 days late and nearly $10 billion over budget, and filled with more than 2,000 earmarks,” he said. “Some of its wasteful projects include a prison museum, a sailing school taught aboard a catamaran, and a Portuguese as a second-language program.”
He added: “Congress needs to cut out that pork, reduce the spending, and send me a responsible measure that I can sign into law.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid questioned Bush’s priorities.
“While the president continues to ask for billions of money that he knows is going to be borrowed in Iraq, he today vetoed one of the most important bills that we could send him,” the Nevada Democrat said.
Reid complained that Bush rejected a bill that “addresses the priorities that the American people have, priorities like education, like research for people with illnesses.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer agreed.
“About one-tenth of the cost that he has vetoed in the labor-health issue, he has asked for Baghdad and Kabul,” the Maryland Democrat said. “In other words, he’s saying there’s too much being spent on American students, on American children for their health care, on communities for their investment in infrastructure, but we’ll send $200 billion extra this year to Baghdad and Kabul.”
Bush said he vetoed the domestic spending bill because it was “bloated.” He slammed Congress for failing to send him a separate bill to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“The bill includes vital funds for veterans’ benefits and care for our wounded warriors,” the president said. “I urged Congress to show its commitment to our veterans by sending me this bill by Veterans Day. Well, they didn’t listen.
“Our veterans have already waited longer than they should have to,” he added. “At the very least, Congress should send me a clean veterans bill before leaving for its two-week Thanksgiving vacation.”
