Repugs are repelled! Bush repudiated yet again, as he and his WAR
CRIMINAL pals Cheney & Rumsfeld try to cover their war "intelligence"
lies with yet more lies. ***** "Go ***** Yourself" Cheney says, with his
usual side-of-the-mouth sneer, critics of the war are 'opportunists.'
Incredible ... coming from a guy whose reasons for war were ingenuous
plus opportunistic in that they fooled a benighted nation ...
BRING ON THE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL !
"House Democrats Defeat Spending Bill"
By JIM ABRAMS
The Associated Press
Thursday, November 17, 2005; 3:17 PM
[The Washington Post Online]
WASHINGTON -- Legislation to fund many of the nation's health,
education and social programs went down to a startling defeat in the
House Thursday, led by Democrats who said cuts in the bill hurt some of
America's neediest people.
The 224-209 vote against the $142.5 billion spending bill disrupted
plans by Republican leaders to finish up work on this year's spending
bills and cast doubt on whether they would have the votes to pass a
major budget-cutting bill also on the day's agenda.
Democrats, unanimous in opposing the legislation, said it included the
first cut in education funding in a decade and slashed spending for
several health care programs. "It betrays our nation's values and its
future," said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland. "It is
neither compassionate, conservative nor wise."
Republicans said they may have lost votes because this year's bill,
down $1.5 billion from last year, included no special projects or
earmarks for lawmakers. "You take those out and you lose the
incentive," said Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., who voted for the bill.
Twenty-two Republicans voted against the measure, many of them
moderates who also are swing votes on the budget-cutting legislation.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said one factor in the bill's defeat was
the drop in the president's popularity and his inability to maintain
unity among the GOP ranks. He also noted that the Republican Party
misses the vote-gathering powers of Texas Rep. Tom DeLay _ nicknamed
"The Hammer" _ who has stepped aside as majority leader because of
legal problems, replaced by Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. "Not every blunt
instrument is a hammer," Frank said.
The defeat upset Republican plans to finish up nearly all the spending
bills before leaving for the Thanksgiving recess. Rep. Ralph Regula,
R-Ohio, manager of the bill, said it may now get thrown into a year-end
"omnibus" over which members have little control.
The bill, a compromise with the Senate covering labor, health and
education programs, is one of the biggest of the 11 spending measures
Congress must pass every year and generally one of the more difficult.
It includes $63.4 billion for Health and Human Services programs, down
almost $1 billion from fiscal 2005; $56.5 billion for the Department of
Education, down slightly from a year before; and $11.6 billion for the
Labor Department, down $430 million.
Republicans argued that it was the best they could do in a year of
tight budgets. Rep. Jim Walsh, R-N.Y., said the bill represented more
spending than the entire budgets of Russia or China. "It's a pretty
remarkable commitment to our nation and to our citizens," he said.
Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said the budget for the National Institutes
of Health, up $250 million from last year to $28.6 billion, has doubled
since Republicans took over control of Congress.
But Democrats provided a long list of programs that will be cut or face
little or no increase, including President Bush's landmark No Child
Left Behind education program, rural health care, Pell grants for
higher education and heating assistance for low-income families. They
insisted the attempted budget cuts were the result of GOP-driven tax
cuts.
The vote was "a tremendous defeat" for the Republicans, said House
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "It had the wrong priorities."
=A9 2005 The Associated Press
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