I want to see Bush veto the Emergency Spending Bill.
That’s right, you heard me. I want a "Go ahead, make my day" moment when he pulls the pen and demonstrates categorically that he DOES NOT SUPPORT THE TROOPS
How many vetoes has he had in 6 years? < chirp chirp > That’s right folks... nada zip zilch none nunca. Wait, no, there was that stem cell business recently wasn’t there? A play to the base, one, in six years. Now don’t give me this nonsense that he had a Republican congress for the first 6 years, that makes no historical difference considering Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Jimmy Carter were Democratic presidents with Democratic Congresses and it didn’t stop them from vetoing bills.
I’ve learned this much about government today while writing my rant: This particular Senate Bill is an appropriations bill, which means that it authorizes additional money for the war, beyond what has already been budgeted. If President Bush vetoes the bill, then that money is not available. Sometime in July this year, he will either have to bring the US troops home or transfer money from other parts of the Defense budget (which he is allowed to do). I see this as win – win. He can finally become that fiscal conservative he claims to be and take money previously earmarked for Haliburton or Blackwell, or Exxon-Mobil to fund the troops.
If Congress does nothing after the veto and does not pass another bill, the President will run out of money for the Iraq War in a few months. Anti war liberals get a present from the President, at the expense of the G.O.P. Why at the expense of the conservatives? (You may ask)
Because the only part of the electorate that will blame Congress is the backwash 30% of idiots that still support this war, and by extension, the co-conspirator in chief. Slate has a video showing the reactions of democrats, independents, and republicans during his veto threat speech in the Rose Garden here I don’t know how to embed it without hotlinking it.
So, why are the democrats in Congress so scared of this veto? Perhaps they’re just acting like they’re concerned while secretly hoping he will veto and then they can claim the president doesn’t support the troops. I don’t understand how Democrats can possibly lose by holding firm to the deadline, and forcing the president to shit or get off the pot. If he vetoes he gets portrayed as Commander in Chief that won’t fund his own troops. If he does nothing, it becomes law without his signature in 10 days.
the Democrats might be softening in the face of Bush's repeated threats to veto the legislation, as they declined to state categorically that the final version would include a timetable.
WHY?
I think it’s simple. Present the bill and see what happens:
- Veto – Then Nancy Pelosi can express regrets that the President "does not support the troops" by funding them. They can always strip out the "pork", leave the deadline, and force him to go through this embarrassment again.
- Sign it – What a spirit of bipartisanship in our government!! Everyone supports the troops and this horrible, horrible war without justification ends on Bush’s watch, and history will damn him with a failed war of his own making. (This, I believe, is the real reason he’s against a timetable.)
- Pocket Veto – Congress adjourns during the ten day period and the veto is automatic without a signature. This worries me on many levels. It might be the politically expedient thing to do, so no one takes direct blame as far as the talking heads on TV and the vast majority of the public that doesn’t understand how government "works".
I haven’t written a diary in a while, and I keep shouting at the television when Bush threatens a veto and at the same time seems to be getting away with blaming Congress for "not supporting the troops".
It has to be said, out loud, for the masses:
"President Bush refused to fund the troops in Iraq today by using the second veto of his presidency to keep an appropriations bill from becoming law, effectively ending the U.S. involvement in Iraq unless he can find a way to transfer money from other defense projects."
Go ahead, make my day.