Obama issues veto threat against House defense bill

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Obama issues veto threat against House defense bill

By David Alexander

WASHINGTON | Tue May 15, 2012 10:31pm EDT

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama threatened on Tuesday to veto a defense policy bill in the House of Representatives that would authorize higher Pentagon spending and tie his hands on national security issues from nuclear arms reductions to handling war detainees.

In a move that set the White House on a collision course with lawmakers in the Republican-led House, the administration warned that the National Defense Authorization Act being debated by the House this week hampers the Pentagon's new defense strategy and infringes on the president's powers as commander.

"If the cumulative effects of the bill impede the ability of the administration to execute the new defense strategy and to properly direct scarce resources, the president's senior advisers would recommend ... that he veto the bill," the White House said in a statement of administration policy.

It was the second time in less than a week that the administration has expressed displeasure over provisions of the measure, which would add nearly $4 billion to Obama's defense-spending request and undo many of the cuts the Pentagon proposed in an effort to meet cost-reduction targets set by Congress.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/16/us-usa-defense-budget-idUSBRE84F01B20120516

[sharp_stick]

1. This is a winning issue for Obama IMO

He's got the signed deal with Congress on the cuts from last year. Defense cuts are popular with Independents and Democrats even if a lot of them don't want them to be as deep as the Republican agreed upon deal forces.

The pukes want to go to the wall on this in an election year I think it could cost them the House. How I would love to see the Oompa Loompa and Cantor bawling about that come November.

[JayhawkSD]

2. I'll bet you think this is about spending.

Think again. A bit less than $4 billion is chicken feed; the key is that the bill "... infringes on the president's powers as commander."

[sharp_stick]

3. If it's a bill

from the pukes you can damned well take it to the bank that it's going to infringe on the Presidents powers.

It's also pretty clearly got a lot to do with the fact that it reneges on the Start treaty and tries to weasel out of the deal the pricks signed just last year.

[xtraxritical]

4. It's another "earmark" from the RepubliCONs

the same pukes who are supposed to be against earmarks. Vote Democratic.

[wenziga]

5. Spam deleted by ScreamingMeemie (MIR Team)