Today, President Bush vetoed a $600 billion spending bill. In this spending bill, around $150 billion was to be used to run departments such as departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services. But in this $150 billion, around $10 billion would have funded projects such as a prison museum, a sailing school, and a program to teach Portuguese. The other $450 billion was to be used specifically for Medicare and Medicaid. If you guys didn't know, Medicare and Medicaid are federal health care programs for the elderly and poor.
So, why did President Bush veto this bill which would ultimately help the much needed health care programs in the United States?
President Bush blames the Democratic leaders in Congress for attempting to waste money and to increase taxes. Bush made an analogy comparing the Democratic Congress to "a teenager with a new credit card." President Bush also called the $10 billion that would funded projects such as a prison museum, a sailing school, and a program to teach Portuguese as "pork." He told the Congress to cut the "pork," and reduce the spending if it wants the bill to get signed.
Did the President do the right thing to veto this spending bill? Was the Congress really trying to waste money and to increase taxes by adding the "pork?" What do you guys think the President/the Congress should have done?
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3 comments:
yeah.. Bush refused to sign this bill because it's "wasteful spending", but what about .... the war in Iraq? I suggest people check out this graph:http://www.federalbudget.com/
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also, if you want commentary on it, check out this website: http://www.federalbudget.com/
if you ask me, department of education sure could use some help.
Like what Kristina said, I don't think Bush knows what "wasteful spending" really is. If he thinks that spending money on Medicare, Medicaid, and the Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services is a waste, somebody should tell him that spending money on a war that seems like a lost cause is a even bigger waste of money. With this veto, Bush is showing a level of incompetency that surprises even me. He's made some pretty bad decisions but to veto this bill with that particular reason seems stupid even in his standards.
I haven't looked at the details on this and pork -- egad! -- would not surprise me in the slightest. Keep in mind that both Alcatraz and Dachau are "prison museums" that deserve to be maintained as such... so take the criticism of this bill with a grain of salt. Bush's new-found fiscal restraint wouldn't fool a mongoose.
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