CONGRESS OVERRIDES BUSH VETO OF WATER PROJECTS BILL

I'm not sure who advised the President to veto this bill, but I think that he got bad advice. I have told family and friends for years that a person should always pick their battles carefully. In this instance the President vetoed an Authorization bill. Congress routinely does the authorization bills first, and then at a later date does the corresponding appropriation bills. What this means in terms of the Water Projects bill, which was an authorization bill, Congress is saying that these are the projects that we intend to authorize. That doesn't mean that they will all be included in the appropriations bill to follow. Historically, about 70 percent of all projects authorized actually get appropriated. The President, to prove his point of fiscal responsibility, would have been better off to have waited for the appropriations bill and exercise his veto on that bill, which is where the money is.