"President No" Attempts to Use Veto Pen as Distraction From His Fiascal Management

Floor Speech

``PRESIDENT NO'' ATTEMPTS TO USE VETO PEN AS DISTRACTION FROM HIS FISCAL MANAGEMENT -- (House of Representatives - November 07, 2007)

(Mr. HODES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Mr. HODES. Mr. Speaker, over the last couple of weeks, President Bush has turned into President Veto, saying ``no'' to a bill that would provide 10 million children access to health care and then saying ``no'' last week to a bill that would protect the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans from the devastating impact of flooding.

After 6 years of signing any bill that came to his desk and disregarding the impact legislation would have on our Nation's fiscal well-being, President Bush is now trying to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility.

Who, exactly, is the President trying to fool? He turned a $5.6 trillion surplus that he inherited from President Clinton into a $3 trillion deficit. That's a reversal of fortune of $8 trillion.

When Democrats took control of Congress, we vowed to restore fiscal sanity, and we began by restoring sensible pay-as-you-go rules. Every bill that we have brought to this floor has complied with these rules, but the President continues to imply that he is more fiscally responsible than this new Congress.

The American people should not and will not be fooled by this change in rhetoric.

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