At the beginning of November, George W. Bush suffered the first veto override of his seven-year career as our nation’s President. President Bush faced a vote of 79 – 14 from the Senate, which demonstrated that many of his Republicans defied him in favor of their own political careers.

On the November 8, 2007, the Senate enacted a $23-billion water resources bill despite Bush’s protests regarding the cost. This water bill encompasses funding for hundreds of projects to be run by the Corps of Army Engineers. These projects include dams, sewage plants and beach restoration, projects which are important to local communities, and therefore to the political careers of their representatives in the Senate and Congress. A large portion of the funding is destined for the hurricane-hit Gulf Coast and for the restoration of the Florida Everglades.

With the override from the Senate, and the House voting 361 – 54 also in favor, both votes more than produced the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to negate the presidential veto. The White House press secretary, Dana Perino, has argued that the President’s decisions are made to save taxpayer dollars. "No one is surprised that this veto is overridden. We understand that members of Congress are going to support the projects in their districts. Budgeting is about making choices and defining priorities — it doesn't mean you can have everything. This bill doesn't make the difficult choices; it says we can fund every idea out there. That's not a responsible way to budget."

This bill is the first water system restoration and flood control authorization passed by Congress since 2000. It would cost over $11-billion, during the next 4 years and $12-billion in the subsequent 10 years. Flood protection projects along the Gulf Coast, such as a 100-year levee protection in New Orleans would demand $7-billion of this money, if fully funded.

While exciting news for those of us who have watched the infrastructure in our country slowly decay, we must point out that this was an 'authorization' bill, not an 'appropriations' bill and doesn't mean a heck of a lot unless our Federal government can come up with new money to pay for these types of projects.

Symbolically, it sends a positive message to the budget committees that these are important projects and should be funded. Realistically, Uncle Sam will only be able to fund a portion of the projects designated in the bill. Which ones get funded will depend largely on whether the project is based in the state and/or district of a Member of Congress who sits in a position of authority.

Follow this link to the CBS News story.