Bush Attacks Congress' Competency

According to CNN, during a meeting with the House of Representatives at the White House Bush openly bashed Congress, saying "(they) are not getting it's work done...The House of Representatives has wasted valuable time on a constant stream of investigations, and the Senate has wasted valuable time on an endless series of failed votes to pull our troops out of Iraq."

Further, Bush criticized Congress for their inability to solve any appropriations bill without "shoving a tax hike into it."

Bush said the Senate was "wasting valuable time" by taking up the children's health insurance bill, which he had vetoed earlier.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program measure passed in the House last week would expand the program by nearly $35 billion over five years, the same as the measure Bush vetoed on October 3. Bush proposed adding $5 billion to the program.

The program currently covers about six million children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for the poor, but who can't afford private insurance. Democrats want to extend the program to another four million, paying for it with a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal tax on cigarettes.

Bush said Congress knows the current version of the children's health bill "does not have a chance," to get enough votes to override another veto.

President George W. Bush said he would reject any attempt by Congress to force him to accept legislation with increased domestic spending by combining it with funding for military operations and veterans health care.

Bush also urged Congress to send him a "clean defense appropriations bill and a war supplemental bill...They ought to get me a bill that funds among other things bullets and body armor," he said.