I suspect the Democrats are going to find there is a lot of fight left in George Bush.
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.
President Bush kept his word and vetoed a bill that would have authorized hundreds of water projects, saying it was too expensive because it had unneeded projects supported by individual lawmakers. It appears both the House and Senate have enough votes to override the President's veto.
The White House needs to follow through on it's veto threats. Hopefully the President will veto this housing bill if it passes.
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