Bush Veto over water overridden by Congress (He's defeated)

[lovuian]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Congress-Veto.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

President Bush suffered the first veto override of his seven-year-old presidency Thursday as the Senate enacted a $23 billion water resources bill despite his protest that it was filled with unnecessary projects.

The 79-14 vote included 34 Republicans who defied the president. Enactment was a foregone conclusion, but it still marked a milestone for a president who spent his first six years with a much friendlier Congress controlled by his Republican Party.

Now he confronts a more hostile, Democratic-controlled legislature, and Thursday's vote showed that most of the Republicans will defy him on spending matters dear to their political careers.

Bush's spokeswoman portrayed the issue as a divide between a budget-conscious president and a big-spending Congress.
more...

Hope for the future and beginning of Bush's lame duck year to come

[lovuian]

1. gotta kick this for Neil

:kick:

[hfojvt]

2. who is Neil?

That's my dad's name, and he is a hydrologist. Coincidence?

H2Oman should be here to celebrate.

Here's a little known fact

In 1976 in South Dakota Ford got 50.39% of the vote and Carter got 48.91%. In North Dakota Ford got 51.66% and Carter got 45.8%. Pretty darn close, especially in South Dakota, usually a dark red state. In 1980, however, in South Dakota Reagan got 60.53%, Carter 31.69%, and Anderson 6.54%. In North Dakota, Reagan got 64.23%, Carter 26.26% and Anderson 7.84%.

What happened in those four years? One of Carter's first acts, on 21 Feb. 1977, he announced several major water projects in South Dakota that he was cutting in order to help balance the budget, and also the Garrison project in North Dakota.

It is not even listed as a major event in his Presidency. I cannot find a link detailing the cuts
http://millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/keyevents/carter

but I think it hurt him in the next election, and perhaps others too. George McGovern also lost in 1980 after 3 terms in the Senate, and then Daschle beat the guy who beat him in 1986.