The Decider vetoes his first bill

Bush has followed through on his threat and vetoed the bipartisan stem cell funding bill proffered by a two-thirds majority of Congress. Interesting that the bill was both the first useful thing Congress has produced in years AND the first bill Bush has ever vetoed...

August Pollak had this to say about it:

"If you think about it for a moment, there's something much more symbolic about Bush's intent to veto the stem cell bill than just a platitude to the far right.

"Let's look at this objectively: The President has never vetoed a single bill. This is mostly because for the bulk of his presidency he has had a fully cooperative Congress. Despite this, the talking point for the last three election cycles has been "obstructionist Democrats" and "activist judges" and "do-nothing partisan politicians."

"So after six years, we have a bill that defies that. Regardless of your personal views on abortion or stem cells, consider this: the bill has the support of over two-thirds of the country. Both Congress and the Senate came together to debate the bill, negotiate clauses, establish agreements, and work out a compromise package that a wide majority of our elected officials, Democrat and Republican, agree on.

"Basically, the passing of the stem cell bill is as close to any grade-school textbook presentation of how a bill become law. It is, in six years, quite possibly the closest example of an actual Congress actually doing something that actual Americans actually want their elected officials to do.

"This, George W. Bush chooses to oppose."

www.xoverboard.com/index.html