Why Veto Makes No Sense

After making it through the House and through the Senate, and being supported by the majority of the US population, the stem cell bill has been vetoed by Bush.

President Bush rejected legislation Wednesday that could have multiplied the federal money going into embryonic stem cell research, using the first veto of his presidency to underscore his stand on the emotionally charged, life-and-death issue.

The House then voted on overturning his veto, but failed to achieve a two-thirds majority (235-193 in favour of overturing the veto).

This underscores why the veto power is kinda ridiculous – a bill can be supported by the majority, make it all the way through the complicated legal procedure to make it almost successful, then one man can say “Nope, I don’t think so.” and it’ll be all over. Granted, this is the first time Bush has used his veto power, but you’d think he’d put his own personal viewpoints aside in favour of those of the populous he is elected to represent. He’s supposed to be there for them, not for his own agenda. One man should never have so much power that he can decide for a nation, against their wishes, just because he believes that it’s the right thing to do. It reminds me of a man named Adolf, really.

Commenting on it all, Bush had this to say:

“It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect.”

Ironic really coming from someone who, during his tenure as Texas governor, executed prisoners at the rate of one every two weeks.