Spending measure blocked in Senate

THE WASHINGTON TIMES ^ | 21 Jan 03 | By Amy Fagan

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Democrats and a few Republicans yesterday blocked the Senate from approving the $820 billion spending bill left over from last year, saying the overtime-pay and media-ownership provisions attached to the bill would have detrimental effects on millions of Americans.

"We should take the time to fix the bill's problems because they affect millions of American families," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, the South Dakota Democrat who led the effort to block the bill. "We ask just a few days to improve this bill."

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On some days, gridlock is your friend. President Bush should thank the Senate. He now can redo this plan so that it spends about $200bil less. Let's all hope he is smart enough to do so.

[Orangedog]

"There's no way to amend this bill," said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, Alaska Republican. "You can kill this bill, but you can't amend it."

Let's hope this thing is killed and flushed.

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There's a way to convince Bush on this bill. Kill it about 5 times, until he resurrects it in an acceptable form.