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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday threatened to veto legislation being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives that would force oil companies to give up undrilled federal leases and ban the export of crude drilled in Alaska...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers defied a White House veto threat on Wednesday and voted to bar CIA contractors from interrogating suspected terrorists, in the latest clash over detainee treatment in the U.S.-declared war on terrorism. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved the provision in adopting a broad measure to authorize funding of U.S. intelligence agencies for the 2009 fiscal year. A related bill awaits action in the Senate. Passage of the multibillion dollar bill came on a voice vote, indicating broad assent, despite the White House veto threat issued earlier in the day. In addition to the contractor ban,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to override President George W. Bush's veto of a Medicare bill that would cancel a scheduled 11 percent pay cut to doctors who treat patients in the health care program for the elderly. The House voted 383-41 to overturn Bush's action, just hours after he vetoed the legislation. The Senate also was expected to override the veto later on Tuesday.

The total savings will amount to over $16 million dollars. Click "full story" to see the full list of the items vetoed. Monday, July 14, 2008 (From a press release) - Today, Governor Bobby Jindal announced that he has line item vetoed 258 items in the state’s operating budget for FY 2008-2009 (HB 1), accounting for more than $16.14 million in non-governmental and governmental projects. Governor Jindal’s 258 vetoes in HB1are more than double the vetoes for all the state’s previous 12 budgets combined. Previously, Governor Kathleen Blanco had 39 line item vetoes in her house budget bills during her...

Breaking news. Nothing follows other than background on Mugabe...as of yet.

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Washington State: Montesano Mayor Stands-Up and Vetoes Attack on Concealed Carry!   Friday, June 20, 2008   In a victory for Montesano’s law-abiding gun owners, Montesano Mayor Ron Schillinger vetoed an ordinance banning the carrying of concealed firearms in the city’s parks, even by licensed Right-to-Carry permit holders.  Please contact Mayor Schillinger, TODAY and thank him for opposing this violation of state law and unjust and unwarranted attack on our right to self-defense and Second Amendment freedoms.  Mayor Schillinger can be reached by phone at (360) 249-3021, ext. 102 or via email at mayor@montesano.us.  ...

LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Jennifer Granholm as expected has rejected a proposed ban on a late-term procedure that opponents call partial-birth abortion. Granholm announced Friday she vetoed the bill recently passed by the state Legislature. The bill was designed to mirror a federal ban that was ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. The state-level measure does not include an exception for a mother's health, which Granholm says is why she won't support it. Granholm vetoed a 2004 ban, but hundreds of thousands of voters signed petitions that allowed the bill to become law with only the approval...

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his veto power to eliminate the obscure Electricity Oversight Board, he put at risk $3 billion in state funds – money due the state from settlements with power merchants who victimized California during the electricity crisis. The governor’s 2007 action removing the EOB also means oversight over the state’s electricity grid is likely to be placed under the control of the PUC, which would entail a significant expansion of the authority of the Public Utilities Commission. This maneuvering comes amid an intensifying power clash between the Legislature and the Public Utilities Commission, led by president...

Gas prices spur new energy billsHigh gasoline prices have sparked Congress to sponsor a gusher of energy legislation, some of which would face a veto by President Bush. Posted on Sat, May. 24, 2008 BY KEVIN G. HALL khall@mcclatchydc.com WASHINGTON -- With the price of oil and gasoline at record levels and sure to be a campaign issue in the fall, Congress is moving on a host of energy-related measures. Most of them, however, sound good but won't significantly boost production or lower prices in the near or even medium term. Some tax measures would encourage the development of alternative...

CAPITOL HILL (AP) -- Brushing aside a veto by President Bush, Congress today enacted a massive election-year farm bill. The 82-13 vote in the Senate followed a 316-108 vote in the House last night. However, not all of the bill that Congress passed last week is becoming law right away. Because of a printing error, the version that Bush vetoed was missing 34 pages on international food aid and trade. That mistake may require Congress to send the White House yet another bill. House Republicans called the error a sign of the Democrats' incompetence, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House overwhelmingly rejected President Bush's veto Wednesday of a $290 billion farm bill, but what should have been a stinging defeat for the president became an embarrassment for Democrats. Only hours before the House's 316-108 vote, Bush had vetoed the five-year measure, saying it was too expensive and gave too much money to wealthy farmers when farm incomes are high. The Senate then was expected to follow suit quickly. Action stalled, however, after the discovery that Congress had omitted a 34-page section of the bill when lawmakers sent the massive measure to the White House. That...

The House overwhelmingly rejected George W. Bush's veto Wednesday of a $290 billion farm bill, but what should have been a stinging defeat for the president became an embarrassing episode for Democrats. Only hours before the House's 316-108 vote, Bush had vetoed the five-year measure, saying it was too expensive and gave too much money to wealthy farmers when farm incomes are high. The Senate then was expected to follow suit quickly. Action stalled, however, after the discovery that Congress had omitted a 34-page section of the bill when lawmakers sent the massive measure to the White House. That means...

WASHINGTON — The House quickly rejected George W. Bush's veto Wednesday of a $290 billion farm bill and the Senate was poised to follow suit, a stark rebuke of a president overridden only once in his two terms. Only hours before the House's 316-108 vote, Bush had vetoed the five-year measure, saying it was too expensive and gave too much money to wealthy farmers when farm incomes are high. The legislation includes election-year subsidies for farmers and food stamps for the poor — spending that lawmakers could promote when they are back in their districts over the Memorial Day weekend....

WASHINGTON - President Bush vetoed the $300 billion farm bill on Wednesday, calling it a tax increase on regular Americans at a time of high food prices in the face of a near-certain override by Congress. It was the 10th veto of Bush's presidency. But since it passed both houses of Congress with veto-proof majorities, his action will likely be overridden. The president calls the legislation fiscally irresponsible and says it gives away too much money to wealthy farmers, yet his criticism didn't faze lawmakers from both parties who voted for increased crop subsidies, food stamps for the poor and...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush vetoed the $300 billion farm bill on Wednesday, calling it a tax increase on regular Americans at a time of high food prices in the face of a near-certain override by Congress. It was the 10th veto of Bush's presidency. But since it passed both houses of Congress with veto-proof majorities, his action will likely be overridden. The president believes the legislation is fiscally irresponsible and gives away too much money to wealthy farmers, yet his criticism rang hollow with lawmakers from both parties who voted for increased crop subsidies, food stamps for the poor...

Rival Lebanese factions reached an agreement to resolve their 18-month political crisis after five days of intensive talks in the Gulf state of Qatar, Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said Wednesday. The agreement was a major triumph for Lebanon's Hizbullah-led opposition, as it met the side's two key demands - veto power in a new national unity government, and an electoral law that divides up Lebanon into smaller-sized districts, for better representation of the various sects. But the opposition was not gloating and Hamadeh said "there are no losers" in the agreement. "Lebanon is the winner," he told The Associated...

A bill that would have altered procedures around newborn genetic testing and blood-sample storage in Minnesota ran into a veto Tuesday. Gov. Tim Pawlenty said while he supports the testing done at birth for medical disorders, he wasn't convinced the bill gave parents enough power to keep a child's samples from being used in long-term research. An estimated 73,000 newborns are tested each year, and approximately 140 are found to have a confirmed medical disorder. Early diagnosis can help bring about earlier intervention. Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, said the veto undermines the program and defies a promise he said he...

Too much spending: The bill increases spending by almost $20 billion over the next ten years, at a time when net farm income is at an all-time high. Much of this additional spending is disguised by budget gimmicks that take advantage of formal scoring rules to hide real spending increases. New sugar program: The bill would make the government buy sugar for 2X the world price, store it, then resell it at about an 80% loss to the taxpayer. Sugar sells for about 11¢/lb on the world market. The US government would have to buy sugar for about 22¢/lb, store...

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved a five-year, $307 billion farm bill with wide bipartisan support, virtually sealing President Bush’s defeat in a battle over agriculture policy. Mr. Bush has promised to veto the bill because he says it would not do enough to limit subsidies at a time of record grain prices. His advisers said Thursday that he had every intention of making good on that vow. The Senate vote, 81 to 15, with 35 Republicans in favor, guarantees an easy override of a veto. The House passed the bill on Wednesday, 318 to 106, also far more...

Yet top House Republicans say they are willing to stand against Democratic initiatives they see as flawed, even though they might have some natural election-year appeal. “There really are things we disagree with, and we are going to work to stop,” said Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, who makes no apologies for joining with Mr. Bush. “We have worked very closely together — the White House, House Republicans, Senate Republicans — to stop bad things from happening and trying to move our own agenda. We have had a very close partnership.” Democrats have learned a...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The White House again says President Bush will veto rival House and Senate Iraq funding bills, even after Democrats made spending concessions designed to win the president's signature. White House budget office director Jim Nussle said Thursday that a plan by House Democratic leaders to send Bush a bill without domestic appropriations that would bust his $108 billion request still wouldn't satisfy the president.

WASHINGTON - Strapped homeowners could refinance into government-backed mortgages and states would get money to deal with foreclosed property under Democrats' housing aid plan. The measures, slated for votes Thursday, constitute the most significant action Congress has taken to date to address the housing crisis that's at the center of the nation's economic woes. President Bush has threatened to veto both measures, which he says reward lenders and speculators. Democrats counter that the bills will head off hundreds of thousands of foreclosures, stabilize the shaky housing market, and prevent neighborhood blight. The centerpiece of their plan is a bill by...

Nancy Pelosi chanted "Veto and Drill", "Veto and Drill" in caricaturing the threatened presidential veto of windfall oil company taxes and desire to drill in ANWR and elsewhere. But all that might sound, in fact, good to most Americans. With the world's largest reserves of coal, after creating the nuclear power industry ex nihilo, and with billions of oil still under our soil and waters, it makes no sense to produce less energy while blaming and taxing those who produce what we have, rather than drilling, digging, and saving, as we find ways to transition to the alternate energies. The...

Bush Vows to Veto Housing-Relief Bill in HouseWednesday May 7, 10:35 pm ET By DAVID STOUT WASHINGTON — As the House prepared to vote on a housing-relief bill offered by Democratic leaders, President Bush on Wednesday told the lawmakers, in effect, not to bother. “I will veto the bill that’s moving through the House today if it makes it to my desk,” the president said at the White House, after meeting with Republican House leaders. “I urge members on both sides of the aisle to focus on a good piece of legislation that is being sponsored by Republican members.” The...

Pelosi: Bush Administration’s Energy Policy is ‘Drill and Veto’43 minutes ago To: POLITICAL EDITORS Contact: Brendan Daly or Drew Hammill, +1-202-226-7616, both of Office of the Speaker of the House WASHINGTON, May 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Democratic Committee Chairs and Members held a news conference this afternoon to discuss proposals to combat skyrocketing energy prices and create a New Direction for energy independence. Below are the Speakers remarks, as prepared: Two weeks ago, I sent the President a letter urging him to sign legislation that would help American families with the rising price...

This letter is in regard to Senate Bill 389, the Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act, or CARA, passed by both the Kansas House of Representatives and Senate. This bill was vetoed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on April 21. It would have given women the choice to see the ultrasound of their unborn baby, medical resources for pregnancies threatened with fetal defects, and legal remedies for abortion fraud and damage. It would have reduced forced abortions and predators using clinics to hide statutory rape. It would have enhanced parental rights, state reporting of, and protection for, sexually abused minors and prosecution of...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry promised to keep fighting for private toll roads and his other transportation priorities Tuesday during his first major speech on the subject since the death in December of transportation commission chairman Ric Williamson. "This is a place for big challenges, not big excuses," he told state Transportation Department employees and highway experts from around the country at the annual Transportation Forum. Next year's legislative session, he said, can't be anything like last year's. "The Legislature must understand that 'no' is not a solution," Mr. Perry said. "It is an abdication of responsibility." Before last year's...

"Wisconsin governors have long been allowed to sign off on budget bills but do some tricky erasing first. They could delete words, numbers, sentences, paragraphs or some combination of all of those, to create entirely new meanings never intended by the original authors — a legislative twist on the game of Mad Libs. Like when Gov. James E. Doyle, a Democrat, scratched out some 700 words from a section of the 2005 budget bill, leaving behind just 20 words that, when stitched back together, moved $427 million from the transportation fund to education."

WASHINGTON — Facing a veto threat from the White House, the Senate today by one vote rejected a bid to move forward on an energy bill that would dramatically boost vehicle fuel mileage requirements and raise taxes on major oil companies. In response, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said leaders would strip out a tax provision that had bothered the Bush administration and many Republicans in the Senate. And leaders from both sides said that would ensure the rest of the bill would pass. "There is no reason why we shouldn't pass the energy bill today," Minority Leader Mitch...

WASHINGTON - House Democratic leaders agreed Thursday to a rare closed-door session — the first in 25 years — to debate surveillance legislation. Republicans requested privacy for what they termed "an honest debate" on the new Democratic eavesdropping bill that is opposed by the White House and most Republicans in Congress. The closed-door debate was scheduled for late Thursday night, after the House chamber could be cleared and swept by security personnel to make sure there are no listening devices. The last private session in the House was in 1983 on U.S. support for paramilitary operations in Nicaragua. Only five...

The Democrats held the vote open after they had lost. They strongarmed three Democrats, apparently, to change their vote to help create an extra layer of bureaucracy. Matt Blunt and other Republicans are yelling "Parliamentary Inquiry!" Republicans are asking why the Democrats changed the rule and then did NOT follow the rule

When President Bush vetoed legislation today that would have prohibited the CIA from using physical force in interrogations, he had the support of Sen. John McCain - the most outspoken of any presidential candidate in his opposition to torture. The Arizona Republican has described his own torture by the North Vietnamese who captured him in 1967 after his plane was shot down on a bombing run. He spoke out against the near-drowning technique called waterboarding when it was being defended by other Republican candidates and by Vice President Dick Cheney. And McCain won the signature of a reluctant Bush on...

War is a dirty business and the people who are the dirtiest in it are the terrorists and their sponsors. Sometimes we are and sometimes they are. That's part of the problem. On any given game day it's hard to figure out the teams on the field much less the players. In the deadly game of war there's no program roster. There's just people you have to talk to and people who have to talk if the game is not to be lost. Sometimes the conversations are easy and sometimes they are hard. Most of the time they are always...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush today blocked an effort by congressional Democrats to end secret torture measures used in the fight against terrorism by vetoing an intelligence authorization bill that would have outlawed waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods. A rare veto in the last year of his two-term presidency, Bush's action was as much a rebuke of Democrats on Capitol Hill as it was a bid to maintain the strong presidential authority to wage war on foreign terrorists that he has asserted since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "Al Qaeda remains determined to attack America again," Bush said, calling...

Bush vetoes interrogation limits Human rights groups say water-boarding is torture US President George Bush says he has vetoed legislation that would stop the CIA using interrogation methods such as simulated drowning or "water-boarding".He said he rejected the intelligence bill, passed by Senate and Congress, as it took "away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror". The president said the CIA needed "specialised interrogation procedures" that the military did not. Water-boarding is condemned as torture by rights groups and many governments. It is an interrogation method that puts the detainee in fear of drowning. Track record...

[Snip] President Bush said Saturday he vetoed legislation that would ban the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods such as waterboarding to break suspected terrorists because it would end practices that have prevented attacks. [Snip]

WASHINGTON - President Bush is poised to veto legislation that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding - a technique that simulates drowning - and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.

President Bush will veto the recently passed intelligence authorization bill over restrictions on CIA interrogation techniques.  He will explain the veto in his weekly radio address, claiming that it takes vital tools away from counterterrorism agents during a conflict when such tools are most needed.  The conflict sets up a showdown with Congress, in the presidential election, and with a media apparently determined to misreport it: President Bush today will veto legislation meant to ban the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics and will argue that the agency needs to use tougher methods than the U.S. military...

WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush is poised to veto legislation that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding; a technique that simulates drowning and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects. The president planned to talk about the veto in his Saturday radio address. Bush has said the bill would harm the government's ability to prevent future attacks. Supporters of the legislation argue that it preserves the United States' right to collect critical intelligence while boosting the country's moral standing abroad. "The bill would take away one of the most valuable tools on the war on terror, the CIA program to...

The White House says President Bush will veto legislation on Saturday that would have barred the CIA from using waterboarding — a technique that simulates drowning — and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects. Bush has said the bill would harm the government's ability to prevent future attacks. Supporters of the legislation argue that it preserves the United States' right to collect critical intelligence while boosting the country's moral standing abroad. "The bill would take away one of the most valuable tools on the war on terror, the CIA program to detain and question key terrorist leaders and operatives,"

Senate upholds Kaine's vetoes By Mason Adams RICHMOND – The Virginia Senate voted this afternoon to uphold Gov. Tim Kaine’s vetoes of two bills to expand the right to carry concealed guns in cars and restaurants. One bill would have allowed concealed handguns in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. The Senate voted 22-18 in favor of the bill but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to override Kaine’s veto. The second bill would have allowed gun owners without concealed-carry permits to store firearms in locked vehicle compartments. The Senate had passed it 31-9 earlier this session, but six...

Yellow Springs, Ohio (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain said President Bush should veto a measure that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects. McCain voted against the bill, which would restrict the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual. His vote was controversial because the manual prohibits waterboarding — a simulated drowning technique that McCain also opposes — yet McCain doesn't want the CIA bound by the manual and its prohibitions. McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, is...

>Nebraska State Senator DiAnna Schimek's 20-year legislative career is nearly over. She feels victimized, no doubt, by the voter-enacted term limits that make this her final year in power. Still, Senator Schimek hopes to go out with her boots on, firing one final shotgun blast to maim or kill the initiative process she has long abhorred. You see, it was only through the voter initiative that Nebraskans passed term limits . . . three times. Yup. It took three petition drives and three votes of the people. Of course, term limits passed overwhelmingly each time. But a charmed third initiative...

WASHINGTON • US President George W Bush plans to veto legislation passed by the Senate to bar the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods including waterboarding, his spokeswoman said yesterday. "The president will veto that bill," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "The United States needs the ability to interrogate effectively, within the law, captured Al Qaeda terrorists." The Democratic-led Senate voted 51-45 on Wednesday in favour of a bill calling for the Central Intelligence Agency to adopt the US Army Field Manual, which forbids waterboarding and other types of coercive interrogation methods. However, the vote fell short of the...

| YESTERDAY I vetoed a bill that the Legislature forwarded to my desk..... Signing such a measure into law would violate the promise I made to the citizens of Massachusetts when I ran for governor. I pledged that I would not change our abortion laws either It disregards not only the seriousness of abortion but the importance of parental involvement and so would weaken a protection I am committed to uphold.. I understand that my views on laws governing abortion set me in the minority in our Commonwealth. I am prolife. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except...

House Democrats failed again Wednesday to override President Bush's veto of their plan to increase spending for a children's health insurance program. The final vote, which was 260-152 with 42 Republicans voting for the plan and 151 Republicans voting against it, fell 15 votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. It was the second time in three months that Democrats were unable to override Bush's veto, and Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, said Wednesday that he was fed up. “This fight shows what's wrong with Washington,” Murphy said. “While dozens of Republicans in the House and Senate...

For the second time in three months, the House failed yesterday to override President Bush's veto of a bill that would greatly increase spending on a popular children's health-insurance program. Democratic leaders fell 15 votes shy of obtaining the two-thirds majority needed for an override. The final vote was 260-152, with 42 Republicans siding with Democrats. The result was expected, even as override supporters pointed to the slowing economy as another reason to spend an additional $35 billion on the State Children's Health Insurance Program over the next five years. "Hardworking American families are struggling and in dire need of...

House sustains Bush veto of health bill 20 minutes ago The House of Representatives on Wednesday sustained President George W. Bush's second veto of bill to expand a popular federal children's health program. On a vote of 260-152, the Democratic-led House fell short of the needed two-thirds majority to override Bush on a measure certain to be an issue along with the slowing economy in this year's congressional and presidential elections. Pushed by Democrats but also supported by many Republicans, the bill was aimed at providing health insurance to about 10 million children in low- and moderate-income families, compared to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The struggling economy gives Democratic lawmakers another weapon in their effort to expand a popular children's health insurance program. In the end, however, they appear to have made little headway in overcoming a presidential veto. In December, President Bush for a second time vetoed a bill that would more than double spending on the State Children's Health Program. Bush said the bill would encourage too many families to replace private insurance with government-subsidized health coverage. On Wednesday, the House was voting on whether to override that veto. In recent days, Democratic lawmakers have stressed that more families...

Iraq thanks Bush for vetoing defense billThu Jan 3, 11:56 AM ET BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq thanked U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday for vetoing a defense bill that would have let companies and people win compensation from the new Iraqi government for actions by ousted leader Saddam Hussein. Bush announced his decision to veto the bill last week, after concluding that the provision allowing lawsuits against Iraq would pose a "grave financial risk" to the country. "The Iraqi government has expressed its gratitude and appreciation for the efforts of President George Bush in using his veto against the...