By Mary Mostert, Analyst, Original Sources (www.originalsources.com)
October 31, 2000
CongressmanVernon Ehlers, Republican of Michigan said on the floor of the house Monday night, October 29th framed the battle going on in Washington over spending by saying:
This is an historic event. We have never met this late in our legislative season since World War II. But perhaps this is not all bad. We are fighting a battle here, too; and that battle is to keep the budget down.Over the past few years, when we approached this point, the President demanded more spending. In order to wrap up this session and get home for elections, we capitulated.
This year we are not going to do that. The President is trying to shanghai us by saying, we will only let you go for 24 hours. You have to be here every day, even though there is nothing to do, because they are not negotiating.
I think it is rather unique. But we are here. We are willing to work. We are eager to work. Unfortunately, the President has been out on the West Coast raising money. But as soon as he gets back and as soon as he is willing to negotiate with us, we are ready and willing to negotiate. But we are not going to give the ship away. We are going to restrain the budget and do the best we can to keep the budget balanced.
The battle Ehlers was talking about has hardly made the news - until last night when finally, after weeks of negotiating and agreeing to billions more in spending than they wanted to agree to, in order to get Clinton to sign the bills, the GOP leadership finally had enough. Clinton kept moving the goal posts, because he believed the Republicans would agree to almost anything to avoid another government shut-down, for which they were blamed in 1995, a few days before the election.
It didn't work. Clinton and the Democrats clearly want a shut-down as much as the Republicans want to avoid one. Last night, minutes before midnight Clinton vetoed a $33 billion appropriations bill that would have funded the legislative branch and the White House, the Treasury Department and which contained a repeal of the 3% excise tax on telephone service which was enacted in 1896 to pay for the Spanish-American War.. Had he not signed the bill by midnight, it would have become law without his signature.
All reports on the veto unanimously report that Clinton had promised previously to sign the bill and actually had little substantive objection to it. He vetoed it purely for spite and hoped for political advantage. Since the first of October, the government has been funded by daily continuing resolutions.
While continuing resolutions are used almost routinely when the Congress and the President can't agree on budget bills, this time Clinton refuses to sign any continuing resolution for more than a 24 hours period in order to force the Congress to stay in Washington. He hopes, by this tactic, that many of the Republicans will lose the election a week from today because they were unable to go home and campaign for re-election.
The New York Times observes in today's paper:
"Mr. Clinton's veto tonight of the operations bill is bound to further poison the atmosphere between the White House and Congress. Before the president vetoed the measure, several lawmakers said that if he did so it would be doubtful that any significant legislation would be passed before the election."If he does that, this legislative session may be over," said Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma, the Republican whip.
The funds needed to operate the Congress, and incidentally the White House, were vetoed to force the Republicans to agree to another bill - the $350 billion fiscal 2001 budget for federal education, labor and health programs. Clinton, and most of the media reporting the situation, appear to think that by vetoing the $33 billion bill which pays congressional salaries, he can force the Republicans to cave in on issues involved in the $350 billion education, labor and health program bill.
One of the things Clinton wants in the labor and health bill, which to my knowledge has not even been mentioned to the American people, is Republican approval to dispense the so-called "morning after" abortion pill in the public schools - apparently without even the knowledge of parents. Another controversial issue is Clinton's demand for a general amnesty for all illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to 1986.
Based on Clinton's statement to the press when he vetoed the bill, he apparently thinks that giving the controversial drugs to young girls in public schools, without their parents knowledge or consent is a priority. That is one of the sticking points. He said last night:
"The Congress's continued refusal to focus on the priorities of the American people leaves me no alternative but to veto this bill,"
For the record, some of the listed complications to RU-486 include: inflammation of the fallopian tubes, excessive bleeding, for up to two weeks (1% to 9% of patients), possibly up to 40 days, need for blood transfusion -- 18 in one study of 2,040 women; in 1% of patients, according to another report -- due to loss of blood, maternal death, possible fetal defomity (survival of fetus in 1% of cases), incomplete abortion -- 2.1%(18) -- retention of placental fragments -- in 43 of 2,040 patients, leading to surgery, ineffectiveness in ending tubal ectopic pregnancies, failure to interrupt pregnancy in 1% of cases(22) -- 20 of 2,040 women -- for unknown reasons, need for surgical procedure -- in 81 of 2,040 women, or 4%, delay in follicular maturation and disturbance in periodicity, abdominal cramps, requiring narcotics in 30% of cases and nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache.
In trying to get Clinton to sign the vetoed bill, Republicans had added $348 million to it to satisfy Clinton demands and ensure his signature. To try to get Clinton to sign the Education and Health bill, the Republicans reluctantly added $14 billion to it.
However, at this point, Dennis Hastert, the easy-going Speaker of the House, who has tried to avoid a showdown with Clinton has basically decided the situation is hopeless.
"We're not going to get pushed out of town with a bad deal," Hastert said. "You call it a stalemate. I call it fighting for the American people to get good legislation for them." It appears at this writing that we could very well wake up on election day with Congress still in session, having been unable to adjourn and go home to campaign.
If the Republicans don't surrender and give Clinton everything he wants, including RU 486 for middleschool girls, will the Democrats take over the Congress and Al Gore move into the White House? I don't think so. By standing firm, I think those who don't want total federal control, which is the majority of the people, will be motivated to go vote for the man who promises to bring a new climate to Washington and to bring people together rather than to fuel contention and class warfare.
It could very well elect George W. Bush in a landslide. Polls show the support for incumbents actually going UP when they stay in Washington and tend to their district's business.
To Comment: mmostert@originalsources.com.
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