September 24, 2007
Bush & Congress Face Off Over Appropriations & SCHIP
President Bush waved the threat of substantial tax increases over the heads of the American public during a news conference today, saying that the Democrats' new budget requests would demand more money in federal revenue.
The Democrats are asking for $22 billion in extra spending, Bush said, and Congress hasn't sent any of the bills to his desk. All 12 measures have been passed by the House but haven't yet made it to conference; the Senate will have five finished by next week if it passes the Defense appropriations bill.
"I don't think the American people should be denied those services because Congress can't get its work done," he said, urging Congress to pass a "clean continuing resolution" so that spending could stay consistent while the new bills are hammered out.
Bush admitted that the last Congress didn't get all its spending bills passed on time and that the CR helped keep the government running while it finished the bills. Bush has never vetoed a spending bill -- but all the previous spending bills were sent up from a GOP-controlled Congress.
But before the appropriations battle comes to a head, Bush will have to deal with the SCHIP reauthorization. Congress plans to send a compromise measure on children's health insurance to the president this week. Bush has promised to veto the bill, and in his radio address Saturday, he outlined the SCHIP proposal the administration has stuck to throughout the negotiations: a $35 billion increase over five years, slightly more than half the amount proposed in Congress' plan.
The battle over the legislation is coming down perilously close to the current program's Sunday expiration date -- which, NPR's Cokie Roberts suggested this morning, is a crafty political move from the Democrats. By coming to a compromise with Republicans to get the bill passed before the program runs out, Dems are forcing Bush either to back down and reverse his stance on the bill or take the political risk of saying he's going to go through with a veto and deny health care for children at a time when they won't have any coverage at all.
CongressDaily has more on both SCHIP and the appropriations bills.
(White House photo by Eric Draper)
Posted at 10:55 AM
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Bush Administration, Congress, President Bush
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