Congress Buys Yacht for Bush

by Chris Bowers, Sat Nov 20, 2004 at 11:55:57 AM EST

This was awfully nice of them:Republicans whisked a $388 billion spending bill through the House on Saturday, a mammoth measure that underscores the dominance of deficit politics by curbing dollars for everything from education to environmental cleanups.(...)

Also enacted during the postelection session was an $800 billion increase in the government's borrowing limit. The measure was yet another testament to record annual deficits, which reached $413 billion last year and are expected to climb indefinitely.(...)

[The bill included] a potential present for Bush himself, $2 million for the government to buy back the presidential yacht Sequoia. The boat was sold three decades ago.

Fiscal conservatism at its best.

Tags: Republicans (all tags)

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Note to DNC: Make some commercials

It's time the Democrats grew a pair and hit the Republicans HARD when they do stuff like this. This could pay off in 2006.

"Voting to extend the national debt, then buying a yacht?" Every American should know what the Republicans are doing with our country's finances.

by wayward 2004-11-20 02:56PM | 0 recs

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John Kerry should filibuster this bill

I concur with the previous poster.

by Paul Goodman 2004-11-20 03:07PM | 0 recs

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Good Move

This is a good thing -- the Sequoia should never have been sold. Two million is a bargain price, and it's already been restored, and is a designated historic site. This is more a matter of reclaiming a national treasure, instead of giving Bush a perk.

The Saratoga, sister ship of the Lexington, was sacrificed as a target ship in the Bikini H-Bomb test in the Pacific. These were the first two American Aircraft Carriers, converted from battle cruisers under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.

Instead of being a tourist attraction in a port city, the Saratoga can only be seen by scuba divers in the South Pacific.

Pull out the Al Franken Yahoo commercial!

"What do Republicans look up on Yahoo? Yachts."

by Tank 2004-11-20 04:35PM | 0 recs

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Budget Bill

This was the bill that authorizes selected members of Congress, Republicans I gather, and their staffs, full access to individual income tax returns.

The clause was buried around page 1000 of a multithousand page document.

It was noticed. There was an extended debate on the floor of the Senate. DailyKos http://www.dailykos.com
has the details. The clause was withdrawn.

by phillies 2004-11-21 05:12AM | 0 recs

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Reason

Same reason they wanted a cruise ship for the RNC in NYC.

Keep meetings with dignitaries off shore, where no one can protest.

Bush is allergic to dissent.

Yacht kind of goes against his ranch image, eh?

by readcom 2004-11-22 03:12AM | 0 recs

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fiscal conservatism

Dems of fiscal conservatives...spending less than they have....the GOP are the fiscal liberals spending more than they have.

by kydem 2004-11-22 09:52AM | 0 recs