Bush threatens to veto fiscal 2009 appropriations above set limit

President Bush Friday sought to renew his fight with the Democratic-controlled Congress over discretionary spending, telling an audience of conservative supporters he will veto appropriations bills if they exceed his $987.6 billion fiscal 2009 spending limit.

"For five years in a row, my budget requests have kept the growth of non-security discretionary spending below the rate of inflation. I set clear spending limits, told the Congress I was going to ... veto bills if they exceeded those spending limits. The Democratically controlled Congress, at the end of last year, cut spending plans by billions of dollars," Bush told the Conservative Political Action Conference. "And if Congress sends me appropriations bills that exceed the reasonable limits I have set, I will veto the bills."

Bush's budget includes holding non-security spending flat, despite inflation. And just as it did last year, Bush's budget calls for hefty increases in defense and foreign-aid spending at the expense of domestic programs. Although it would have slower growth than last year, the Pentagon would still see a 7.5 percent boost while the State Department and international assistance funds would rise 16.5 percent.

Just as they did last year, Democrats reacted with alarm and derision about the budget proposal. Unlike last year, however, Democrats may not give Bush the satisfaction of an unsuccessful budget fight, preferring to wait out the lame-duck president until a new administration that may be more willing to bend on domestic spending. Bush's budget has "no relevance to anything," said Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.

In his speech, Bush also reiterated his call to cut earmarks in half from levels appropriated last year, threatening to veto spending bills if they did not meet that target.

He recently issued an executive order directing federal agencies to ignore earmarks in the reports accompanying spending bills -- which are not legally binding -- if they are deemed wasteful. Today, he put the onus on the next administration to continue the same earmark scrutiny.

"This executive order will extend beyond my presidency. It will stay in effect unless revoked by a future president," he said to applause. "What that means is any president who wants to return to the old ways of unaccountable and wasteful spending will get to do so publicly. And if that happens, that president will have some explaining to do."