Bush vetoes bill to restore Everglades

As expected, President Bush today vetoed a bill from Congress that was intended to revive the flagging Everglades restoration effort and help with post-Katrina reconstruction in Louisiana.

Bush Administration officials have said the $23-billion Water Resources Development Act is too expensive. But the bill passed Congress in September by a wide margin --  81-12 in the Senate and 381-40 in the House. That means there were far more votes for the bill than the two-thirds that would be required to override a presidential veto.

As a result, Congress is expected to hand President Bush his first-ever veto override early next week. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House is scheduled to vote on the override Tuesday, and he expects enough Republican support for the override to pass. No date for the Senate vote has been set yet.

“No single bill Congress approves this year will have as much positive impact on Florida’s environment than this," Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said.

WRDA bills authorize federal spending on water-related projects, usually handing the money to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Normally Congress passes a WRDA bill every two years. But the last one passed in 2000. That was the WRDA bill that authorized launching the Everglades restoration project, then assessed at $8-billion over 20 years.

The Everglades project was supposed to be a 50-50 effort by the state and federal governments. When efforts to pass a new WRDA bill bogged down in unrelated issues, including efforts to reform the Corps, much of the federal funding for Everglades restoration dried up. The state has been carrying much of the financial load, leading to criticism that the state's spending priorities are aimed at supplying water for South Florida's continued growth, and not saving the Everglades.

The bill Bush vetoed also includes $1.9-billion for Louisiana coastal-restoration projects, more than $880-million for a levees and floodwalls to shield some Louisiana parishes from future hurricanes and authorizes spending an unspecified amount of money on fortifying New Orleans' levees to withstand a 100-year storm.

--Craig Pittman and Wes Allison

Comments

[Zhombre]

Bush hates water.

: (

[Francois]

The reason for the veto is obvious. The House approved a $14 billion waterworks bill, and the Senate approved a $15 billion companion bill.

Rather than split the difference and approve a $14.5 billion bill, or even go with the Senate's $15 billion, the conference committee reported out a $23 billion bill.

What was the President supposed to do, cave? Sheesh!

Cementing his reputation as the Worst President Ever.

[Campaign Manager]

I don't care about Bush's reasons.

I care that the Everglades are dying.

I care that Washington has spent only $358 million to save it, while Florida has spent $2 billion.

I care that Bush wants to take the Everglades off a list of endangered sites.

I care that we are paving over the Everglades.

I care that we mining the Everglades for stone that we use to pave over even more of the Everglades.

I care the Fred Thompson suggested that we drill in the Everglades.

I care that my children may never see the sun rise on the River of Grass.

If any Senator running for President does not vote to override this veto, they do not deserve the support of any Floridian.

Fred Thompson already deserves to lose it.

DO NOT "hand" the over-ride to the drunk!

get out some ky and............

THIS SUCKS!

Does Bush NOT want any Republicans to get elected in November?? Is that it?

Disgusted Republican

The last decent thing that man did was read stories to a kindergarten class in Sarasota.

Why don't you do a decent thing and go ahead and finish your pill bottle with a 5th of whiskey for a chaser!

[demjuls]

I agree with 2:08 in that anyone who doesn't think this veto should be over-ridden does not deserve to get one vote from Florida! The Federal government made a committment to Floridians and thus far they haven't lived up to that committment....now when congress is finally taking steps to correct this, President Bush vetos the bill. Not only that, but the President continues to show gross negilence to the people of Lusisiana and specifically those people in New Orleans.....how dare he!!

Hey, I hear his brother was governor.

you bunch of sissy whiners what exactly is so good about over spending by 15 billion dollars from what they originally passed? Are President's just suppose to sign whatever Congress sends them? Is Congress and the President suppose to get to a point where they agree? Do you understand our form of Government? How dare you for being so stupid!

I think some profits from the commercial advertising during the show "Cane" should be directed to Everglades restoration...or at least Jimmy Smits salary for that god awful show

Maybe Dog the Bounty hunter should contribute to Everglades funding...

I love it when people say that FLORIDIANS are paying too much to improve FLORIDA. I know (very well) that we give a lot of money in Federal income taxes, and it is nice to see some come back to the state.

But seriously, is it the responsibility of people in Wyoming to pay their tax dollars so we can improve the Everglades??? Personally, I wish the Federal Government would get off our backs. Stop stealing our money, and let us keep the money in the state to pay for projects that we deem necessary (and yes, I think we should do what we can to save the Everglades).

This country was founded and supposed to run with strong state governments and a weak federal government. Seems like people have forgotten (or never been taught that) over the past couple generations.

Federal government wants $23 billion...what the heck. We can all afford it, right? Tax us til there's nothing left. Dems want to share the wealth like good little socialists (great in theory; has failed time and time again in practice) so let's just turn over our whole paycheck and let them decide who to give it to.) I wonder if $8 billion became $23 billion due to pockets being padded. And why can't they go back to one bill for each issue? Lumping things together causes worthwhile and REASONABLE proposals to be shot down because of glitches in the other proposals attached to it. A $15 billion dollar increase is quite a glitch. (Just a thought though on the other part of the bill - is it reasonable to rebuild in a location that is doomed to be flooded again? Don't you ever wonder why the press shouts its misconstrued negative versions of events and the positive things are swept under the rug, same as the details on these kinds of issues. If we read it all (the entire bill and how the numbers jumped from 8 to 23) from start to finish we'd all be glad we had a president who's willing to get beat up by the Democrat-dominated press in return for doing a good job as "keeper of the wad", the wad in this case being OUR federal funds. Next time you read something, look at who wrote it and do a little research on that person or that publication's political agenda.

[Gene Smith]

3:00 PM

Stupid?

Here's what's stupid - Vetoing a bill that was passed so ovewhelmingly that an over ride is all but certain. Stupid is vetoing a bill that will cause Republicans to lose votes in Florida next fall (you can be sure we are going to remind folks what Republican presidents have done for the Everglades - NOTHING).

Stupid is standing up for the stupidness above.

Oh, BTW, do you not understand that in our form of government Congress, the Executive branch and the Judiciary are co-equals?

[bdiddy]

I bet if there was a WAR in the everglades it would pass....

Gene you are an idiot. No sh*t they are co-equals. So just because it's going to get overridden he should have just signed it? Why are you wetting your pants if you are getting what you want anyway? You are like a little girl, ok you scared us remind everyone a bill got vetoed. Fool.

Bushderangementmove.orgDemocrats will NEVER like anything that the President does.
Heck, they still think Al Gore won in 2000. So, is really think that the above posts are nothing short of what the DailyKos says about him??

Thank you President Bush for finally vetoing something. For six years you oversaw a bunch of spending drunkens sailors. It is about time you vetoed something.

Congress: come back and pass a 14 billion dollar clean up bill.

[Marc]

If we just stopped subsidizing the sugar industry and take those billions we stop giving to those rich Sugar Magnates and give it to the Everglades restoration project it will kill two birds with one stone (and trim a Bush in the Whitehouse as well).

Everyone!!! keep in mind the reason Bush doesn't want to spend money on the environment, children or education is because he is trying to save that money for the war with IRAN!

Don't worry they will. I'm so glad the Democrats cleaned up the earmark mess as promised!

3:08 Ya Know, some of what you said is true, but I don't care if this bill was the cleanest, meanest, most pork-free piece of legislation proposed in the last 100 years, Bush still wouldn't sign it cause he just don't have a decent bone in his body.

Marc we don't have sugar subsidies. Get your facts together so you don't sound ignorant.

Everglades? Thats close to Cuba...they aint gettin any money....only for TERROR

Excuse me? We don't have sugar subsidies? Are you on another planet? Does the name Fanjuls mean anything to you?

I hope you A-holes are the ones that get blown up next terrorist attack. Please sign up at your local Al-Queda office.

[Marc]

Sugar Subsidies are currently funded at 1.2 Billion per year. AND don't forget that we tariff the crap out of other countries that want to import sugar...don't get me started, I know the Sugar lobby quite well.

Sugar cane btw grows best in clay soils like found in Jamaica, Cuba and many of the other Caribbean islands. It has to be fertilized to DEATH to even stand a chance of growing in our sandy soils along the Everglade borders.

OK 3:22 we do not give them money to NOT grow sugar cane. That's what subsidies are, Florida is 49th of states that receive Federal subsidies only Hawaii has less. We have sugar price controls so that sugar is not shipped into the US at rock bottom prices. Ever heard of the Sugar Beat industry in Louisiana? They are pretty powerful too since you clearly have no clue what you are talking about. Stop getting talking points from moveon.org and use some facts if you know what that is.

[Marc]

Go to the Cato institutes website (link below). They are a CONSERVATIVE think-tank funded by Republicans.

http://www.freetrade.org/node/694

the article is titled:

Why Congress Should Repeal Sugar Subsidy

by Chris Edwards

Chris Edwards is director of tax policy at the Cato Institute.

Read, understand, enjoy and reflect on the fact that even if Right wing Republican freaks are begging for the Sugar subsidies to cease...maybe its time to do so.

[Francois]

"3:17 Ya Know, some of what you said is true, but I don't care if this bill was the cleanest, meanest, most pork-free piece of legislation proposed in the last 100 years, Bush still wouldn't sign it cause he just don't have a decent bone in his body."

From the veto message:

This bill lacks fiscal discipline. I fully support funding for water resources projects that will yield high economic and environmental returns to the Nation and each year my budget has proposed reasonable and responsible funding, including $4.9 billion for 2008, to support the Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps) main missions......

-and-
... This bill promises hundreds of earmarks and hinders the Corps' ability to fulfill the Nation's critical water resources needs -- including hurricane protection for greater New Orleans, flood damage reduction for Sacramento, and restoration of the Everglades while diverting resources from the significant investments needed to maintain existing Federal water infrastructure. American taxpayers should not be asked to support a pork-barrel system of Federal authorization and funding where a project's merit is an afterthought.

I urge the Congress to send me a fiscally responsible bill that sets priorities. Americans sent us to Washington to achieve results and be good stewards of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars. This bill violates that fundamental commitment. For the reasons outlined above, I must veto H.R. 1495.
------
The detractors conveniently avoid reading and would rather follow the BDS scripts.

[Marc]

and Francois, tell me what makes you think Mr. Bush is such an expert regarding the funding of the Corps and their projects? I read the quote and it does not explain or tout a single FACT. Its all just right-wing conjecture and made-up talking points to make it seem that this was such a bad bill, that even the Army CORPS themselves support!

[Liberty or Death]

It was vetoed because it was so loaded down with pork spending....at the last minute...in secret...with no debate, i might add.

So much for Pelosi and Reid's "most open and honest Congress ever" crap.

The Moveon.org/Code Pink/Daily Kos/George Soros Democrats ("ones who pander to the mindless whims of the masses") never cease to amaze.

Only this time they get some help from a bunch of spineless, pandering(Martinez) Republicans.

Good read Marc, touche'. But do you agree to my point that the Gov't does not give the sugar companies a subsidy not to grow sugar like they give the midwest not to grow corn, wheat, etc?

Yes in the end we pay more for items with sugar, I'm up for a repeal of the program "racket" if you are? Clearly my guys wouldn't do it, do you think your guys will do it?

i like what 2.48 said....doubled!!

[Marc]

Honestly I am not really into the left / right wing stuff. I just want the Everglades cleaned up and saved. If we remove the price controls, subsidies and allow other countries to import their Sugar Cane, it would eliminate the #1 by far polluter of the Everglades.

It seems insane that we PAY money to keep those rich patriarchal Sugar grower families in business so they can stay rich, and on top of it all we now also have to pay to clean up THEIR mess! stop the price controls, level the playing field and heck, the price of a candy bar will probably go down 80% or more while at the same time we save the Everglades and our wallets!

[Keith]

It didn't matter whether it was increased by 15 or 15 billion dollars - it came from a Democratic Congress so it was going to be vetoed.

[Marc]

And! Liberty or Death 3:38,

You, are just a Trolling Moron!

You didn't read the bill at all, there is no Pork, the bill was very short and concise. Do yourself a favor and read it yourself here before you waste our time with your right-wing spouting bullshit!

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-617

H.R. 617: Restoring the Everglades, an American Legacy Act of 2007

Marc you sound as though you ARE in fact into the right/left wing thing...solidly LEFT. That was a great post about the H.R. 617 bill however the President vetoed H.R. 1495, the "Water Resources Development Act of 2007."

Please pull your head out of your butt.

[Marc]

My bad, I posted the old link...this is the corrected one...

Marc

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1495

Yeah Liberty or Death thinks that Fascism = Freedom. He probably thinks that those Cane-growing Corporations are being denied their inalienable right to despoil the environemnt which is guaranteed by the US Constitution

Way to go Democrats thank god you took over from the free-spending Republicans...boy you showed them.

The House of Representatives took a $15 billion bill into negotiations with a $14 billion bill from the Senate and instead of splitting the difference, emerged with a Washington compromise that costs over $23 billion.

marc:
Typical d - displaying only what you think will help support your decision. Keep reading the WHOLE bill and you will see that Liberty or Death was right.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:13:./temp/~c110sYshBT::

After reading all the earmarks, I realized why the President vetoed it.
Why won't you Bushderangementmove.orgDemocrats finally put the blame where it belongs. With Pelosi and Reid. Idiots.

[Liberty or Death]

From the AP:

"Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin applauded Bush for vetoing a "flawed, bloated bill. Instead of trying to override the veto, Congress should take this opportunity to fix the bill.""

At least one Democratic Senator gets it. The others are pandering for votes.

The bill went from $14 billion in May to $23 billion...how? Earmarks aka vote-buying programs. Read the original bill. Then say there was no pork added.

Oh wait you guys forgot!

George Bush hates black people.
George Bush hates white people.
George Bush hates Europeans.
George Bush hates Asians.
George Bush hates Australians.
George Bush hates Indians.
George Bush hates Africans.
George Bush hates Antarcticans.
George Bush hates South Americans.
Hell he event hates North Americans.

[Liberty or Death]

I love it when people resort to calling someone a Nazi, Fascist, etc...

It means they have nothing left to argue.

OK, so remove the pork and see if he signs it then - not a chance! He doesn't want it, period - they just gave him a ready excuse this time, but he'll always have one.

In Bushland, the Everglades is not threatened, the polar ice is not melting, and we got enough timber and water and oil to supply the corporate greed forever.

[Marc]

4:10

I re-read the whole bill...what are you talking about? It is very concise about funding the Everglades Restoration and funding fixing the levees in Lousiana.

You are going to have to enlighten us as to what pork barrel earmarks you are talking about!

Regarding the funding, it nothing short of what was promised to Florida to begin with a few years ago when this was agreed to in the first place...

As far as funding fixing up Louisiana, I can't speak to that so if that's what you call earmarks...whatever dude!