Bush vetoes health-labour Bill

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New Albany, Indiana, Nov 14: President George W Bush on Tuesday vetoed a measure to fund education, job training and health programs, marking the sixth veto of his presidency and the latest salvo in a fight with congressional Democrats over domestic spending.

Bush signed a separate Bill to give the Pentagon about $460 billion for the fiscal year that began on October 1, even though he was disappointed the military bill had less money than he had sought. Even so, the Pentagon would get about $40 billion more than last year, a 9% increase.

The White House said the bill to fund labor and human services was bloated and filled with special projects. The $600 billion measure was about $10 billion more than what Bush requested. Bush and the Democratic-led Congress have been locked in a heated budget battle for months, with each side accusing the other of fiscal irresponsibility.

Democrats who wrested control of Congress last year from Bush’s Republican Party campaigned in part on criticisms over the budget deficits that soared on Bush’s watch, boosted by spending for the Iraq war. But Bush tried to turn the tables on Democrats, accusing them of seeking to go on a spending spree and said it would only be a matter of time before they sought higher taxes to pay for it. “Their majority was elected on a pledge of fiscal responsibility, but so far it’s acting like a teenager with a new credit card,” he said in a speech in New Albany, Indiana. He added he would not hesitate to use his veto pen again.

Democrats defended the labor bill, saying the extra funds were needed for programs like education and research on cancer and other diseases. They said the money was dwarfed by the Iraq war costs and that overall, they are paying for spending increases with belt-tightening elsewhere. “The president again vetoed a bipartisan and fiscally responsible bill that addresses the priorities of the American people,” said House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.