Bush Vetoes Medicare Bill

This is very perplexing based on the votes the bill had from both the House and Senate and appears now to be a game of cat and mouse or more like “Custer’s Last Stand” in a sense. It is not like he’s risking his political future at this point and after all the work and effort this just seems to place an undue extra strain on Congress to rehash and vote once more; and it clogs up the pipelines for all business and votes at hand. BD

WASHINGTON — President Bush cast what appears likely to be a futile veto on Tuesday, rejecting a bill that would protect doctors from cuts in their Medicare payments. The president’s veto message to the House of Representatives said that he objected to the bill because it was “fiscally irresponsible” and relied on “short-term budget gimmicks” that do not address the long-term fiscal soundness of the Medicare program.