With a vote of 277 to 141, Democrats failed to override his veto yesterday.
With a vote of 277 to 141, Democrats lost their bid to defy Bush's veto of the labor, health and education bill. The vote was a setback for the Democratic social agenda championed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (Wis.), the bill's chief architect.
We also showed you a few of those projects that Congress was using this bill to fund, via Captain's Quarters:
Among those earmarks were $500,000 to the National Council of La Raza, over $10 million for an advanced credentialing program which the organization did not request, and the Charles Rangel Monument to Me. With the long list of unnecessities included in this porkfest, its supporters have little room to complain about a veto.
The only people playing politics here are the Representatives and Senators that treat the Treasury as their re-election funds.
A few more things Congress needs to strip because it has nothing to do with labor, health or education include but are not limited to:
$400,000 for Jazz at Lincoln Center by Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). That amount more than doubled in the conference report from $150,000 in the House bill.
$320,000 for the American Jazz Museum, Kansas City, MO, for exhibits and educational programs, and an archival project, sponsored by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.).
$300,000 for the Des Moines Art Center, for exhibits, sponsored by Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).
$175,000 for the Young at Art Children’s Museum, in Davie for the Global Village Project, inserted by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).
$150,000 for Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY New Paltz, in New York for exhibits and programs, sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Those are just a few examples and you can find a long list of more idiotic pork stuffing over at Citizens Against Government Waste, who do an excellent job of highlighting earmarks (pork) that are nothing more than politicians trying to buy support for their next elections, using OUR money to do so.
Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.
Here is a novel idea for the pork stuffers in Congress- If you think the earmark is worthy, propose it as a stand alone and see how far it gets, otherwise, WE the people, shouldn't be paying your bribes for support in your next election.
More wasting of our money is shown by the fact that Congress and the Senate knew this would be vetoed, spent days getting it passed and they also knew that they did not have the votes in either house to override the veto.
Same thing they have done with SCHIP.
Same thing they have done a couple times with the defense bills.
They keep touting progress by passing idiocy through the house, most of which never makes it through the Senate and those that do and get vetoed, and they are fully aware beforehand that they do not have the votes to override the veto.
All they are doing is getting paid, with OUR MONEY to play a political games but actually get nothing accomplished.
The pity here is that there are some very important things in this latest bill and because the Politicians in Congress and the Senate want to spend like a drunken sailor on non essential things, the important programs will suffer.
Strip the pork and get the bill signed and stop playing games with necessary funds for labor, health and education.
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