All Bark, No Bite

Dubya’s been acting like a tough guy all week with promises to veto bills on highway spending

The Senate overwhelmingly passed a transportation bill Tuesday that would plow billions into highway and transit projects through the end of the decade, but states say that isn’t enough to keep pace with growing traffic congestion.

Approval of the $295 billion measure sets up a showdown with the House, which has passed a $284 billion bill. The administration is threatening to veto any bill authorizing more than that amount.

…and stem cell research.

President George W. Bush said he would veto legislation under consideration in the House of Representatives that would ease restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

“I have made very clear to the Congress that the use of taxpayer money to promote science that destroys life in order to save life, I am against that,” Bush told reporters in at the White House before meeting with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. “If the bill does that, I will veto it.”

Yeah, right. I’ll believe it when I see it. Bush hasn’t issued a single veto during his presidency, so why should we believe him now? As you can tell from this speech he made two years ago, he’s fond of patting himself on the back, but rarely follows through.

“I can assure you I will work with Congress to control excessive federal spending. One reason they give the President the veto power is to make sure the Congress doesn’t over-spend. Over-spending could serve as an anchor on economic vitality and growth.”

Even after bragging that he’d use his power to control spending, he’s earned the wrath of conservative think tanks for out of control budgets and he’s done nothing about record levels of pork-barrel spending. This can really lead us to one of two conclusions : He doesn’t really care about the things he claims to or he’s a spineless coward who’s unwilling to stand up to special interests. Either way, Little George’s veto threats are toothless and should be ignored.