Why do Democrats need so much pork to pass Iraq spending?

Question

Clearly there aren't enough votes to pass a bill that contains a deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq without kissing a few butts are there?

The President of the United States does not have the Constitutional authority to line-item veto in most situations. Unlike most state governors, the President must sign or veto the whole bill.

If there was, as Speaker Pelosi claims, a mandate to end the war in Iraq, why is attaching this provision to a spending bill necessary? Shouldn't the provision to end the war be able to stand on its own if there is legislative mandate to end the war?

Thank you heavy for your clarification of the line-item veto.

Answer 1

We would as citizens think that--but wow politicians are just into making money for themselves for their next campaign--we need to be more proactive as citizens of this "democratic" country. I have no idea of the answer--the more I see of what our government is doing the more I feel we are in a authoritarian society. What are we trying to do in Iraq anyhow.

At least the "pork" goes back into the US.

The Pres can veto the whole thing--which he will.

Answer 2

That is why they got rid of the line item veto, most politicians are for sale, pork projects buy them campaign support.
Its pathetic, but basically, all of our, (US citizens), interests are for sale by our elected officials.

{The President of the United States was briefly granted this power by the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, passed by (Republican) Congress in order to control "pork barrel spending" that favors a particular region rather than the nation as a whole. The line-item veto was used 11 times to strike 82 items from the federal budget[2] [3] by President Bill Clinton.

However, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan decided on February 12, 1998, that unilateral amendment or repeal of only parts of statutes violated the U.S. Constitution. This ruling was subsequently affirmed on June 25, 1998, by a 6-3 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case Clinton v. City of New York.}

Answer 3

JEFF JACOBY
The Republican pork barrel
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | August 4, 2005

AT $286.4 BILLION, the highway bill just passed by Congress is the most expensive public works legislation in US history. In addition to funding the interstate highway system and other federal transportation programs, it sets a new record for pork-barrel spending, earmarking $24 billion for a staggering 6,376 pet projects, spread among virtually every congressional district in the land. The enormous bill -- 1,752 pages long -- wasn't made public until just before it was brought to a vote, and so, as The New York Times noted, ''it is safe to bet that none of the lawmakers, not even the main authors, had read the entire package."

Answer 4

I would have a lot more respect for your question if you had asked :Why do politicians need so much pork to pass a spending bill.", as surely both Republicans and Democrats are known to add pork to bills to the extent that they can get away with it, when they are in power. This is hardly a new tactic just invented by the party now in control of congress!

Answer 5

Is help for the victims of Katrina pork? Better care for wounded vets? A higher minimum wage? How about better armor and guns for the troops? If that's your idea of pork, I pity you. Bush just wants to veto this bill and go against the wishes of the American people, period. Any excuse will do.

Answer 6

Don't start this!

You ran up 3 1/2 Trillion dollars in debt in 6 years. No one has ever come even near that figure!

Oh, do you mean thins like this?

The three reservists — Col. Curtis G. Whiteford, Lt. Col. Debra M. Harrison and Lt. Col. Michael B. Wheeler are accused of taking part in a bid-rigging scam that diverted millions of dollars for reconstruction projects to a contractor in exchange for cash and luxury items.

The two others indicted are Seymour Morris Jr., an American living in Romania charged with wire fraud and Philip Bloom, an American contractor who admitted laundering at least $2 million in reconstruction money.

“These defendants actually took bricks of stolen cash ... and smuggled them out of Iraq and back to the United States for their own personal use,” Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said when announcing the charges Wednesday.

These reservists were given Porsches, Cadillac Escalades and other lavish gifts to steer the contracts to the unscrupulous contractor. One of the reservists and her husband even used stolen money to build a deck and add a hot tub to their New Jersey home.

Currently, Stuart Bowen, the government’s special inspector general in Iraq, said his office is investigating up to 80 cases of waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars in reconstruction contracts.

The indictments were announced a day after the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform grilled Paul Bremer, the former U.S. occupation chief in Iraq, on how he doled out $12 billion in Iraq reconstruction money without accounting for it.

Where is the $12 billion?

Answer 7

Pretty much the same reason that virtually every bill that came out of the Republican controlled Congress contained as much pork as they could cram into it.

Answer 8

Three and a half billion dollars for medical care for veteran and active duty military personnel, plus money for drought relief, agriculture assistance, and rebuilding New Orleans’ levees.

If Bush cared about America, his administration would have passed these appropriations. We need more of this ‘pork’.

Answer 9

AGAIN, as I previously stated about a 100 times, this is how things get done. Both parties do it. The only reason you all are in an uproar about it is because it's in the media. Republicans do it too, all the time. If they want a majority vote, they give a little in what ever bill they are trying to pass. Get over it.

I seriously need to copy and paste my answers.

Answer 10

Their goal is to put so much pork in the bill, that Bush will veto the thing. You need to check out what they want to spend YOUR TAX MONEY on, just to play partisan politics.

There is no way they are even thinking what is best for America. They are to ate up with politics.