From time to time, I will post articles which I believe support my contention that, effectively, there is NO president of the United States.
A key quote: ``Instead of a serious discussion, we got an ultimatum. We had expected this was going to be a working meeting, not a my-way-or-the-highway meeting.''
I do not believe Bush is CAPABLE of engaging in a "working meeting."
Bush threatens to
veto additional
emergency spending
ULTIMATUM STUNS
LAWMAKERS, WHO VOW TO
DEFY PRESIDENT
BY DANA MILBANK AND DAN MORGAN
Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- President Bush, in a tense session with lawmakers,
warned Tuesday that he would veto any move in Congress for
additional emergency spending on defense and domestic anti-terrorism
efforts connected to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The ultimatum, Bush's first veto threat since the terrorist strikes, was
intended to send a message to Congress that the collegial spirit of
politics that has prevailed since Sept. 11 did not mean that he would
acquiesce to spending increases beyond the $40 billion already
approved, administration officials said.
``I understand your intentions and your good will, but if I need to, I'll
veto the bill,'' Bush told the lawmakers, according to an aide present at
the meeting. ``We have ample money to meet the expectations we need
to meet.''
Lawmakers angry
The lawmakers, including the chairs and ranking minority members of
the House and Senate appropriations committees, reacted angrily and
vowed to defy the president.
``Parents are afraid to take children to school; they're afraid to go
shopping,'' Senate Appropriations Committee chair Robert Byrd,
D-W.Va., told Bush, according to sources present at the session. ``If
you want to veto it, you go right ahead.''
The meeting came at a time of increasing tension on Capitol Hill. The
House, after White House lobbying, passed a Republican
aviation-security measure at odds with a plan that passed unanimously
in the Senate. And Tuesday, Senate Democrats unveiled a $90 billion
economic-stimulus package that sets up a fight between Senate
Democrats on one side and House Republicans and the Bush
administration united on the other side. The Democrats' plan would
favor benefits to the unemployed over the business interests
Republicans support.
At issue in both the economic-stimulus package and the emergency
spending that Bush threatened to veto is whether the government has
authorized enough money to respond to the terrorist attacks.
Bush and Congress have agreed to $40 billion in additional spending,
largely for recovery efforts and extra defense spending. The White
House argues that only $3.9 billion of the $40 billion Congress
authorized has been dedicated so far, and that there is no need for
further spending legislation before next year.
But unlike the debate over the stimulus package, which is largely a
partisan dispute, the argument over additional supplemental spending
pits Bush against senior lawmakers in his own party.
Members in both parties insist that agencies and departments require
the money quickly. They have argued for more spending for the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Public Health
Service, the FBI and the Customs Service. They argue that immediate
funds are needed to protect several weapons facilities as well as
shipping.
Tuesday's meeting had been several weeks in the offing, and members
said they had expected a give-and-take on the $20 billion supplemental
spending request that the Bush administration sent to Congress last
week to cover costs of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Budget earmarked
Under the $40 billion emergency spending deal worked out between
Congress and the White House after Sept. 11, the White House has
already detailed how it will spend the first $20 billion and is negotiating
with Congress over how to spend the second half.
House Appropriations Committee chair C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., who
wants to tack a version of the administration request to the pending
Pentagon spending bill, conveyed to Bush his doubt that he could
muster enough votes to get the spending bill through his committee
without added money for homeland defense, the military and New
York.
But members and aides said it was clear that Bush wanted only to
deliver a veto message in person, not to engage in discussion.
``I was flabbergasted and amazed,'' said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.,
ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. ``Instead of a
serious discussion, we got an ultimatum. We had expected this was
going to be a working meeting, not a my-way-or-the-highway meeting.''
Sudden departure
After hearing from Young and other top members of the Senate and
House appropriations committees, Bush said: ``Thank you very much. I
have another meeting to go to,'' according to one committee member on
hand.
A senior Bush aide said Bush did not intend his departure from the
meeting as a walkout. The aide noted that the meeting lasted nearly an
hour and that Bush shook hands with those in attendance before
leaving. |
