Bush Threatens To Veto Legislation Blocking Transfer Of U.S. Ports

[JABBS]

In his five-plus years as president, George W. Bush has not once vetoed a piece of legislation.

With Republicans in control of Congress, it would take extraordinary circumstances for Bush to feel the need to veto legislation. But certainly, Americans would know how passionately Bush felt on a given subject, if he was willing to overrule his own party's Congressional leadership.

And now we may be at such a crossroads. For President Bush is once again threatening his debut veto -- in order to support the takeover of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports by a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates.

The president yesterday defended his administration’s earlier approval of the sale of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to Dubai Ports World, despite concerns from both sides of the aisle that the deal could increase the possibility of terrorism at American ports.

“If there was any chance that this transaction would jeopardize the security of the United States, it would not go forward,” Bush said.

What's wrong with the United Arab Emirates? Some of the Sept. 11 hijackers used the United Arab Emirates as an operational and financial base. The UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan. Critics from both parties say a port operator complicit in smuggling or terrorism could manipulate manifests and other records to frustrate Homeland Security’s already limited scrutiny of shipping containers and slip contraband past U.S. Customs inspectors.

But Bush asked Americans to trust his judgment, and why shouldn't we? We were greeted as liberators in Iraq, right? Right before we found all those weapons of mass destruction. And Osama Bin Laden has been captured, right? And we're following that roadmap to a two-state solution, now that the Palestinians have had elections. Everything has gone just as the Bush Administration said it would, right? Asking for our trust may have worked in the days following the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes, but doesn't work with the majority of Americans today.

So it shouldn't be completely surprising that multiple pieces of bipartisan legislation are being written in the House and Senate to block the transfer. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, said yesterday the state will file lawsuits in federal and state courts opposing the agreement. A company at the Port of Miami, a subsidiary of Eller & Co. Inc., sued last week to block the deal in a Florida state court.

***

Bush has threatened the veto before, showing passion for some very questionable ideals.

-- In October, Bush threatened to veto the Senate's 2006 Defense spending bill because it included an amendment that would mandate uniform standards for the treatment of military detainees by banning "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of prisoners by the military.

After it seemed the entire nation disagreed with him, Bush relented.

-- Bush has threatened to veto legislation for expanded financial support for stem cell research. With Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) now behind such legislation, a showdown is possible later this year.

-- Last fall, Bush threatened to veto legislation that would have reversed new Environmental Protection Agency rules to give power plants flexibility in how they reduce mercury emissions.

But Bush got a break, as the legislation failed 51-47.

-- Last summer, Bush threatened to veto the pork-laden federal highway bill if it came in over-budget.

But even after the legislation was passed some $30 billion over Bush's line-in-the-sand, he signed it into law. What a fiscal conservative!

***

So again we sit at the crossroads. Bush has laid down the gauntlet. For now, Congressional Republicans appear upset at the idea of our ports being run by a government with as many ties to terrorism as, say, Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Will Republicans stand firm and fight their party's leader? Will they succumb to late-night arm-twisting from Vice President Cheney and Senior White House Advisor Karl Rove? Or will Bush be forced to put his veto stamp where his mouth is?

With mid-term elections less than nine months away, and with Bush's popular support hovering at about 40 percent, this is a battle worth watching.

***

This item first appeared at JABBS.

[JABBS]

1. addendum

On conservative talk radio, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham separately unveiled similar talking points.

The Republicans in Congress have "legitimate concerns that need to be ironed out." The Democrats -- or as Hannity says, the Clinton, Kerry, Schumer Democrats -- are engaging in "opportunism" and "partisan politics."

Hannity asked Bill Frist yesterday whether the GOP in Congress was giving the Democrats another opporunity to attack Bush.

The fact that the Democrats and Republicans are equally outraged over the issue? Who cares?