AP News Alert:
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush has vetoed a health and education spending bill that is a top priority for congressional Democrats.I suspect this one will flood my email box here in a bit, so I'll have more after I sort through it all...
UPDATE 1: White House Press Secretary Dana Perino:
"We call on Congress to take out the pork and reduce the overall spending levels and return it to the president," she said.Good luck with that, Dana...
UPDATE 2: Rep. John Boehner:
“The President was right to veto this pork-filled legislation. At a time when American families are already struggling with the rising cost of living and a record high tax burden, Congress is raising their taxes to pay for pork-barrel projects and wasteful spending. It is completely irresponsible for Members of Congress to demand that taxpayers bankroll pet projects like a Hippie Museum in New York and an Exploratorium in San Francisco at a time when they are dealing with spiking gasoline prices – which could rise another 20 cents per gallon during the holidays – and other cost of living increases that are putting the squeeze on family budgets. It’s time for Congress to begin working in a bipartisan way to send the President fiscally responsible bills that he can sign into law.”
NOTE: Among the millions in worthless pork included in the bill are:
· $300,000 requested by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for an “Exploratorium” in her district – one of more than $4.5 million in earmarks Speaker Pelosi has piled onto the troops and veterans bill.
· $1 million requested by Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Tim Johnson (D-SD), and Tom Harkin (D-IA) for the Thomas Daschle Center for Public Service and Representative Democracy in Brookings, South Dakota. This earmark was “airdropped” into the conference report without any debate or public scrutiny in the House or Senate.
· $1 million requested by Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Mark Pryor (D-AR) for the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.
· $100,000 requested by Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) for O’Neill Sea Odyssey, an “educational” program conducted “on board a 65-foot catamaran sailing Monterey Bay.”
· $3.2 billion for 56 programs in the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services that the President’s Budget proposed to terminate, such as $9 million for an Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners Program.
· $1.5 million requested by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) for the Working for America Institute, a union-based training program.
