Forget about threatening the veto. If George Bush vetos a bill that fully funds the troops, he is in deep shit. The air- and paper-waves are gonna be full of callers and LTEs asking just why is he so dead set against supporting our troops in a bipartisan way? (I'll be one of them -- I've already started drafting my letters) Given that he had to cloister himself in a room just to veto a stem cell bill, how withdrawn would he have to be to veto funding the troops?
But being who he is, I can almost imagine what he feels to have to sign a bill that gives him everything he wants, but also sees as directly questioning his authority to conduct a war any way he sees fit.
So what if George just refuses to sign?
The Constitutionthat we once had, does have something to say about this:
If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it...(Article 1, Section 7)
So that's it! Bush makes a speech, saying something like: "I cain't in good con-science put my cipher to this bill, naw cain I refuse to fund ore troops," and the bill becomes law without him signing it.
That would be the best of worlds. But then, this is the Bush Administration, so what would life be, without a dark side? The same section continues:
UPDATE: Was just informed that the bill hasn't made it's way to GW's desk yet, so everything below this is just puppy-spew
...unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
This is known as the "Pocket Veto."
Congress just went into recess for a week.
Dya think Bush's handlers won't try to craft some evasion?
There is just enough ambiguityin the legal status of the pocket veto to make the Rovian elements rub their hands and mutter, 'excellent.'
A pocket veto is absolute. There is no override, the bill doesn't get sent back. Under a pocket veto, it's as if the bill never existed.
Ahh.
Now, for an administration that has declared the Geneva Conventions as "quaint," and the Vice-Presidency as an untouchable fourth branch of government, how much of a stretch would it really be to wordsmith their way into nullifying acts of Congress?
Not much, these days.