The Petulant Putz Strikes Again
Mr. Bush, apparently without warning, has put out the word that he will veto the defense bill that is on his desk. This is an omnibus bill that includes the budget and raises for His Troops. This is the very same bill that passed the senate 90 - 3. Yes, I said 90 to 3. Why, you ask might he veto such a bill? What aggregious elements lie within?
Well in that bill is a provision that would allow the plaintiff’s attorneys in trials dealing with Iraqi assets to freeze the funds so that they wouldn’t disappear during the course of the trial. Mr. Bush? Doesn’t like it. He says this would produce “massive liability in lawsuits concerning the misdeeds of the Saddam Hussein regime.”
Support our troops? I think he is just being pissy because Harry Reid keeps gavelling the Senate into session so that he can’t make his usual slew of totally unacceptable interim appointments. Too bad so sad.
Posted: December 28th, 2007 under Bushco.
Comments: 4
Comments
Comment from timr
Time: December 29, 2007, 11:30 am
I was just reading on TPM that funds for the VA were also in this bill, as was a higher raise for active duty personnel, both of which were much higher than gwb wanted. Could this just be his-gwb-way of not letting congress give the military(and the VA) more money than he wanted them to have? On the pocket veto, with the senate in session, is this legal? Is gwb going to use this(with the msm going along full tilt) as just another example of the dems(dispite a 90-3 vote in the senate) not caring about the troops? Finally, when has any prez ever gone into the fine print of a bill to pick out one paragraph out of hundreds of pages and veto that bill because of that one paragraph. Come to that, who actually reads an entire bill-I know that our elected congresspersons don’t-to pick out a para here and there in order to veto or vote against said bill
Comment from Josh Hammond
Time: December 29, 2007, 3:05 pm
Now if the Dumbos can’t turn this one to their advantage, then they should not govern. But they won’t and they will.
Comment from I.B.Lever
Time: December 30, 2007, 4:22 am
Iraqi officials raised their concerns with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker about 10 days ago and when administration officials took a closer look at the provision they agreed that it could pose “grave financial risk” for Iraq, tying up assets needed for reconstruction, the White House said.
U.S. President George W. Bush speaks at his ranch in Crawford, Texas December 27, 2007. Bush intends to veto defense authorization legislation over a provision that would “imperil Iraqi assets held in the United States,” the White House said on Friday. (REUTERS/Larry Downing)
Iraq also discussed with the United States the possibility of pulling its assets, about $20 billion to $30 billion, out of U.S. institutions if the defense policy bill became law, a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.
“The new democratic government of Iraq, during this crucial period of reconstruction, cannot afford to have its funds entangled in such lawsuits in the United States,” White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.
The Bush administration is concerned that the bill would re-open lawsuits filed against Iraq under Saddam Hussein, some going back to the first Gulf War, and tie up the assets of the post-Saddam government.
I say …….. bring every last one of our troops home now and let Blackwater , Haliburton and the likes, handle the situation as they see fit and at their expense - not ours. “Veto that Mr. Butch !”
Comment from timr
Time: December 30, 2007, 10:39 am
IBL, so who is the puppet and who is the puppeteer? Interesting how Iraq is now telling gwb what to veto. Now how about the military and VA disability raises, and the increases in VA medical care which were also in this bill? And what about the war funding that gwb was so desperate to get a few days ago?
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