Officials: Bush hasn't needed his veto

A disciplined, Republican-controlled Congress has avoided official rebuke from President Bush since he took office almost four years ago.

Bush is the first president in 100 years not to veto a single bill proposed to him by Congress.

Though this record is striking, policy expert David Almasi said the explanation for it is simple: the Republican majority in both chambers of Congress.

"It's not like he's getting bills he has a predilection to dislike," said Almasi, executive director for the National Center for Public Policy Research.

"Theoretically, by the time something gets to his desk, it's going to be what he wants."

Before Bush took office, presidents had a history, dating back to the presidency of Ronald Reagan, of facing an opposition majority in Congress, he said.

UNC political science professor George Rabinowitz said that Republican leaders, striving to escape a legacy of decades of settling for minority status, have been working to ensure party solidarity since the 1980s, capitalizing on a public shift toward conservatism.

"(The Republicans) really changed the rules by which the House operates," he said. "The leaders are in a better position to reward those who comply with them and punish those who don't."

John Samples, an analyst for the Cato Institute, a nonprofit public policy research foundation in Washington, D.C., said the relationship between Bush and Congress is a two-way street.

Not only is the Republican Congress giving Bush what he wants, but he's also sometimes giving them what they want -- money for their districts and financial supporters -- by signing off on bills.

Almasi said some proposals are called "Christmas tree" bills because they have something for everybody.

"Say there's a defense bill," he said. "Everybody tacks something on -- a library for my district or a highway for my district."

Rabinowitz said the Senate, where the majority is slimmer, is less dependable, so Bush has tried to win some Democratic support there as well via legislation.

And there is no rule saying that Bush must exercise his veto.

While some maintain that presidents traditionally use veto power to limit wasteful spending proposed by self-interested legislators, Samples said Bush is more concerned about winning support.

"He's unwilling to do anything that might jeopardize his re-election effort," he said.

He added that Republicans aiming to restrain federal spending likely won't turn to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, whom their party has labeled as an even bigger spender.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.