Majority Leader: President Bush Shows Again That He is Out of Touch« Thread Started on Oct 17, 2007, 5:54pm » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Majority Leader: President Bush Shows Again That He is Out of TouchHoyer Addresses CHIP, Budget and FISA --------------------------------------------------------------------------------WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today in response to President Bush's comment at a White House press conference:“Today, the President showed once again how out of touch he is with most Americans.“The President reiterated his opposition to a bipartisan children’s health insurance bill that has broad support from Republicans, Democrats and independents across the country. His arguments against the bill have been debunked, to put it charitably, and many members of his own Party have turned against him and vowed their support. “Mr. Bush also tried to blame Congress for a standoff over the nation’s budget. The simple truth is that the President has slowed down the process by threatening to veto bipartisan, fiscally responsible spending bills that make targeted investments in key areas such as education, cops on the beat, and health care for our veterans – all of which is again broadly supported by the American people. It is the worst kept secret in Washington that the President, who never vetoed a spending bill while a Republican Congress ran up record deficits, is vainly trying to re-establish his fiscal bona fides with his unhappy conservative base.“Finally, the President showed his disregard for the basic fundamental constitutional rights that Americans’ cherish. The FISA bill being debated in the House today will protect America, while protecting those key rights. It gives the intelligence community the tools that it needs and closes the intelligence gap cited by the Director of National Intelligence. It does not require a warrant for listening in on terrorists, it does not provide constitutional rights to terrorists, and it does not delay the collection of intelligence.“Democrats will continue to fight to override the President’s indefensible veto on behalf of the 10 million low-income children we are trying to ensure have access to quality health care. We will send the President responsible spending bills that make targeted investments in our nation’s future. And we will ensure that basic American rights are not violated, while protecting America from those who wish to harm us.” ###