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We've been critical of Republicans' chronic inability to thrust political predicaments upon Senate Democrats and President Obama by forcefully spotlighting risky, unpopular filibusters, and forcing politically painful vetoes. Progress on these fronts has been maddeningly rare, though not nonexistent. With additional Democratic obstruction efforts afoot, the GOP now appears poised to require presidential vetoes on measures that would gut much of Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood, via a budget maneuver known as reconciliation.  But perhaps their best opportunity to draw political blood, or even win, is on a showdown involving the National Defense Authorization Act, which large bipartisan majorities have now sent to Obama's desk, directly challenging a veto threat: Speaker...

Vetoes and the threats thereof are about to become regular features in Washington, DC, and President Obama appears to be taking a few warm-up tosses in advance of the Republican takeover of Congress. Last week, the president said he'd reject a bipartisan deal on tax extenders -- on which Harry Reid was a chief negotiator -- because it "exclude[s] a pair of Obama's top priorities."  That deal blew up anyway, as a result of Obama's controversial executive action on immigration.  Now the White House is vowing to veto a spending bill that funds all of the government, but blocks Obama's sweeping amnesty fiat. From yesterday's briefing:...

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill this afternoon that is literally named after Barack Obama's most famous presidential promise. He has threatened to veto it, natch -- even though his own bogus and legally questionable administrative "fix" purports to accomplish many of the legislation's goals. (Reminder: Neither Obama's plan, nor any of the legislative solutions, are actually viable). Dozens of frightened Democrats shook loose from Nancy Pelosi's arm-twisting and voted with a nearly unanimous GOP caucus to send the "Keep Your Plan" Act to the Senate. Your move, Harry: Thirty-nine House Democrats on Friday broke ranks to support...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warned Tuesday that Republicans' deficit-reduction bill is "dead on arrival" in his chamber, as the Obama administration issued a formal veto threat and pushed lawmakers to reach a "compromise." White House officials appeared to hold back earlier Tuesday when asked whether President Obama would veto the GOP bill, which could be voted on in the House as early as Wednesday. But the administration issued what's known as a "statement of administration policy" Tuesday afternoon saying the president's advisers "would recommend that he veto this bill" should it clear Congress.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's advisers would recommend that he veto a bill authored by House Speaker John Boehner to cut government spending and raise the debt ceiling in two stages, the White House said Tuesday. The House is expected to vote on the Republican bill on Wednesday.

How to remove $5 billion from the federal deficit in one fell swoop? Eliminate the $5 billion-a-year subsidy given to oil refiners for blending ethanol into gasoline. The Senate voted Thursday to do just that, and even though the amendment is attached to a bill that probably won’t pass, the 73-27 vote sends a message that many Democrats and Republicans are behind an idea supported by an odd coalition that ranges from Tea Partyers to the Sierra Club. Thirty-three Republicans joined 40 Democrats in voting to eliminate the subsidy. Provided in the form of tax credits, the subsidy gives 45...

<p>WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved a long-debated measure that would expand the federal hate-crime law to cover violence against gays and, in an unusual gambit to make it difficult for President Bush to carry out his veto threat, attached it to a defense bill.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House on Tuesday threatened a presidential veto of legislation giving the District of Columbia a vote in the House, possibly prolonging a two-century-long wait for representation in Congress. The bill, the White House said in a statement, violates constitutional language saying the House should be made up of representatives chosen by the people of the states. "The District of Columbia is not a state," it said, and if the legislation reaches President Bush's desk, "his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill." The House is to vote Friday on the legislation that would...

WASHINGTON-President Bush probably would veto a Sept. 11 antiterrorism bill if it includes a Democratic-sponsored provision to let federal airport screeners unionize, a Republican senator said Tuesday. "The president's message on the bill is going to come out tomorrow. I think that it will contain a veto threat on the TSA collective bargaining position," Sen. Susan Collins (news, bio, voting record), R-Maine, said, referring to the Transportation Security Administration. Collins said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told her of the impending veto threat. A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Such a veto threat...

Facing a certain veto, state lawmakers have abandoned their effort to require that textbooks in California schools detail the history and achievements of gays and lesbians in America. State Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), the author of SB 1437, said she made the change even though it removed 90% of the import of the measure, which would have been the first in the country to mandate the teaching of homosexuals' contributions. But Schwarzenegger's office, which had taken the rare step of announcing his intention to veto the bill, provided no encouraging signal that he would change his mind. "The governor...

Spokesman says the governor plans to veto curriculum measure, but Kuehl insists it can still pass. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto a bill passed by the Senate and pending in the Assembly to revise California's school curriculum to include the contributions of gays and lesbians to the state and nation, a gubernatorial spokesman said Wednesday. "The governor believes that school curriculum should include all important historical figures, regardless of orientation," said Schwarzenegger's director of communications, Adam Mendelsohn. "However, he does not support the Legislature micromanaging curriculum." Wednesday's announcement signaled a death blow to the efforts of state Sen. Sheila Kuehl,...

Since 2001 when stem cell research first captured our nation’s attention, I’ve said many times the issue will have to be reviewed on an ongoing basis -- and not just because the science holds tremendous promise, or because it’s developing with breathtaking speed. Indeed, stem cell research presents the first major moral and ethical challenge to biomedical research in the 21st century. In this age of unprecedented discovery, challenges that arise from the nexus of advancing science and ethical considerations will come with increasing frequency. How can they not? Every day we unlock more of the mysteries of human life...