How Many Lame Duck Presidents Does It Take To Issue 50 Vetoes?

If the lame duck president is George W. Bush, then you only need one.

In his first six years of office, Bush issued just one veto. He vetoed the bill that had bipartisan support in both houses: to expand federal support of stem cell research. But since the people voted for change in 2006, and voted in a narrow majority in the Senate and a near narrow majority in the House, Bush, ever more the lame duck president, just gets his veto stamp out whenever he wants to be taken seriously.

And now, according to Hearst’s Helen Thomas, he doesn’t even have to apply the stamp in order to cow congress into submission. He just has to wave it around.

“But right now he is on a roll, getting what he wants without a veto pen but merely making the threat.”

“He was able to derail the Democrats yearlong attempt to set a timetable for a troop withdrawal from Iraq. Just before the holiday recess, the Senate approved an additional $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- with no strings attached -- which the president will sign.”

In all, White House aides say that there are 50 separate pieces of legislation that Bush doesn’t like, and now that he is in his last year in office, he apparently feels no restriction to advance his neoconservative agenda.

The Worst President . . . Ever, has now become The Worst Lame Duck President . . . Ever.

Thank Jesus for the Obama Girls, who keep this thing ever in perspective.