http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/13/america/cong.phpWASHINGTON: President George W. Bush vetoed a major spending measure on Tuesday that would have funded education, health care and job training programs, saying it contained too many special projects, even as he signed a $459 billion bill to increase the Pentagon's non-war funding.
The veto, of a measure providing $150.7 billion in discretionary spending for the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services, was announced as Bush was en route to southern Indiana to deliver an economics speech at which, his spokeswoman said, he would criticize Congress for its "wasteful spending."
It guaranteed a new round of wrangling with the Democrats who control Congress over war costs and domestic spending priorities.
The president's criticisms of Congress's spending priorities have grown steadily more pointed. But in her immediate response to the veto, the Democratic speaker of the House, Representative Nancy Pelosi, seemed to be trying to hold her fire, keeping open the possibility of reaching compromise but saying the president need to help in finding "common ground."
The veto announcement also came as top Democratic lawmakers were unveiling a new study on the "hidden costs" of the Iraq and Afghan wars. They said that if one included such factors as the higher cost of oil, lost productivity and interest payments on money borrowed to finance the wars, the real costs would nearly double, to more than $1.5 trillion.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
