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    Bush Vows to Veto Fiscal 2009 Spending Bills That Exceed His Request
    Congressional Quarterly

    Friday 08 February 2008

    President Bush made clear Friday he is not interested in striking election-year deals with Democrats on federal spending and will veto any appropriations bills that exceed the funding he requested in his fiscal 2009 budget proposal.

    Bush once again is asking Congress to boost defense funding while essentially freezing spending for domestic programs.

    "If Congress sends me appropriations bills that exceed the reasonable limits I have set, I will veto the bills," Bush told the Conservative Political Action Conference.

    Overall, the president is requesting $987.6 billion for the next fiscal year, an increase of 4.9 percent over the current year. But nearly all of the increase is targeted to what the White House defines as national security - the Pentagon and homeland security programs across the government - leaving a boost of less than 1 percent for domestic programs, which would divvy up $393 billion under Bush's plan. That is well below the inflation rate.

    Democrats may hold off on completing the annual spending bills until after the November election, when they hope a Democrat will be elected president. At that point they could fund the government with a stopgap measure lasting into the term of the next president, which will begin Jan. 20.

    Still, the differences between Bush and Democrats on how much the government should spend will serve as fodder for election-year debates as the two parties make their case to voters.

    Many Republicans believe part of the reason the party lost control of Congress in 2006 was because they did not adequately hold down spending. Sen. John McCain , R-Ariz., who is now on track to be the GOP presidential nominee, has spent years assailing earmarks in appropriations bills - funds set aside for members' pet projects.

    Republicans see attacks on spending in general and earmarks in particular as a way to energize their conservative base, and Bush has threatened to veto fiscal 2009 spending bills that do not cut the cost and number of these projects in half.