Bush Republicans Have It All Wrong
October 30, 2007
Washington, DC - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement after President Bush threatened to veto funding important to the American people:
"President Bush has it all wrong. Voting to end the war in Iraq is not wasted time. Voting to give low income kids health care is not wasted time. And voting to care for our brave veterans is not wasted time. The hypocrisy from this White House is almost unbelievable, even from President Bush. After signing $3 trillion in new spending, President Bush and his Republican allies are playing political games to distract from their dismal fiscal record but Congress will not be bullied into giving him a blank check for his failed policies. Democrats will continue to fight for the American people, and voters will elect a Democratic president next year to ensure that the White House will listen to them."
REPUBLICANS GET A FAILING GRADE FOR THEIR RECORD ON SPENDING BILLS:
Republican Congress Failed to Adopt a Budget. Last year, as in 2004, the Republican Congress failed to approve a budget resolution. [CQ Budget Tracker]
Republican Congress Failed to Pass Almost Half of Appropriations Bills. During Bush's first six years in office, 38 appropriations bills were enacted individually while 36 were covered through omnibus spending bills, minibus spending bills or continuing resolutions. [Congressional Research Service]
President Bush Never Vetoed a Spending Bill from the Republican Congress. "Before Democrats took control of Congress from Republicans in January, Bush never vetoed any of these regular spending bills, even though they created record deficits and ran up the federal debt by about $3 trillion." [Associated Press, 7/26/07]
President Bush Signed Legislation that Exceeded His Request. In each of the past five years, President Bush signed appropriations levels that exceeded his requests. [Congressional Research Service]
- President Bush Has Been Willing to Accept Higher Levels of Total Appropriations. The difference between actual appropriations and the Bush request was nearly $16 billion in FY 2002, $9.5 billion in FY03, $10.5 billion in FY04, $4.7 billion in FY05, and $53 billion in FY06 (more than twice the increase proposed in this year's congressional budget resolution). [Congressional Research Service]
