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Bush Veto Sets Up Showdown On Policies

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By PETER BAKER, The Washington Post

Published: November 14, 2007

NEW ALBANY, Ind. - A budget dispute erupted into a full-scale battle Tuesday as President Bush vetoed the Democrats' top-priority domestic spending bill and the party's Senate leader threatened to withhold war funding if the president does not agree to pull out of Iraq.

The long-anticipated clash came to a head as Bush rejected a $606 billion bill to fund education, health and labor programs, complaining that it was too expensive and larded with pork.

Within hours, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., declared that Bush will not get more money to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year unless he accepts a plan to complete troop withdrawals by the end of next year.

The exchange encapsulated a broader confrontation over national priorities, a battle both sides appear eager to wage heading into an election year.

Democrats are seeking to paint Bush as a reckless leader who spent the nation deep into debt through failed war policies while ignoring schools, medical research and other vital areas.

The president vetoed the appropriations bill funding the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Departments at the White House before flying here to lambaste Congress in a speech to local leaders.

He complained the bill spent nearly $10 billion more than his proposed budget and included more than 2,200 pet projects known as earmarks.

"The majority was elected on a pledge of fiscal responsibility, but so far it's acting like a teenager with a new credit card," Bush said. At the same time, Bush also signed a $471 billion annual Defense Department spending bill that increases the Pentagon's budget 9 percent to fund operations other than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BAY AREA EARMARKS

Some of the pet projects in the spending bill:

•$400,000 for Florida Southern College in Lakeland for the purchase of equipment to support nursing programs. Requested by Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow

•$100,000 for Polk County public schools for purchase of "assistive technology." Requested by Putnam

•$550,000 for the University of South Florida for program to assist school-age children in becoming physically active and healthy. Requested by Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa

•$125,000 for the Tampa Metropolitan YMCA for after-school programs. Requested by Castor

•$300,000 for Polk Community College for advanced manufacturing training programs. Requested by Putnam

•$300,000 for St. Petersburg College for a distance learning program. Requested by Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores

Tribune reporter Billy House

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