XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.atheism, alt.politics.immigration   
   XPost: alt.politics.trump   
   From: nota@home.org   
      
   Trump drinks Coke and never showers, he doesn't like water.   Says rural   
   Americans can drink their own piss for all he cares because his popularity   
   with them has cratered.   
      
      
   Trump vetoes bipartisan bill to provide clean water to rural Southeastern   
   Colorado   
   By Caitlyn Kim, Shanna Lewis, and Chuck Murphy   
   ·   
   Dec. 30, 2025, 7:31 pm   
    .   
      
   A plan to help local communities pay their share of the long-sought   
   Arkansas River Valley conduit passed Congress with strong bipartisan   
   support, but has still come up one vital signature short of becoming a   
   reality.   
      
   President Donald Trump on Tuesday vetoed the "Finish the Arkansas Valley   
   Conduit Act" despite its sponsorship by fellow Republicans and the   
   significant benefits it would provide to southeastern Colorado, where his   
   support runs deep. The conduit, which broke ground in 2023, will provide   
   clean water for farming, factories and households. The bill would have   
   given local communities 100 years to pay back no-interest federal loans for   
   their share of the project.   
      
   "Enough is enough, " Trump said in a veto message to Congress. "My   
   administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding   
   expensive and unreliable policies. Ending the massive cost of taxpayer   
   handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the   
   fiscal health of the nation. "   
      
   That's not how everyone sees it.   
      
   The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would cost the federal   
   government less than a half million dollars. The U. S. Bureau of   
   Reclamation calls the conduit a "major infrastructure project that, upon   
   completion, will provide reliable municipal and industrial water to 39   
   communities in southeast Colorado. "   
      
   The project would also provide badly needed jobs for the area.   
      
   "This isn't a frivolous project, " Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy   
   District Senior Policy and Issues Manager Chris Woodka said. "It's a   
   project that meets federally mandated standards for water quality to ensure   
   that 50,000 people are drinking clean, not carcinogenic, water. "   
      
   Woodka said the water district is working with the congressional delegation   
   to figure out next steps, and won't give up on the project.   
      
   The bill passed via voice vote in the House and unanimous consent in the   
   Senate. That huge Congressional support for the project would seem to make   
   the veto ripe for an override, but that would require testing the will of   
   Republican leaders in both chambers to allow a vote and take on their   
   party's leader. Such a challenge to Trump is no sure thing.   
      
   Legislation authorizing and funding completion of the project is perhaps   
   the most impactful bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert during   
   her time in Congress. And while she didn't raise the specter of a veto   
   override in a statement Wednesday night, she nonetheless was not shy about   
   expressing her displeasure with the president.   
      
   "President Trump decided to veto a completely non-controversial, bipartisan   
   bill that passed both the House and Senate unanimously, " Boebert said. "If   
   this administration wants to make its legacy blocking projects that deliver   
   water to rural Americans; that's on them. "   
      
   Boebert also questioned the president's motives for the veto, suggesting it   
   might be retribution because she helped ensure a vote on releasing the   
   Epstein files.   
      
   "I sincerely hope this veto has nothing to do with political retaliation   
   for calling out corruption and demanding accountability. Americans deserve   
   leadership that puts people over politics. "   
      
   GOP Rep. Jeff Hurd was a co-sponsor of the House version of the bill, while   
   Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper introduced it in the Senate.   
   Lauren Boebert   
   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)FILE - U. S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.   
   , speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, July 14, 2023, in   
   Washington.   
      
   Democrats in Colorado's delegation were also quick to label the veto an act   
   of reprisal, with Bennet posting on X, "This isn't governing. It's a   
   revenge tour. "   
      
   Hickenlooper added on X that, "Congress should swiftly overturn this veto.   
   "   
      
   The project has been on the drawing board since the 1960s. It was designed   
   to eventually stop groundwater withdrawals in the area, which can produce   
   water tainted with radioactivity.   
      
   The 130-mile conduit would bring water from Pueblo Reservoir to Bent,   
   Kiowa, Crowley, Otero, Prowers and Pueblo counties. The original   
   legislation required the state and communities to fund 100 percent of the   
   cost, but President Barack Obama and Congress opened the door to federal   
   funding in 2009.   
      
   "The vetoed legislation did not authorize new construction spending or   
   expand the federal government's original commitment, " Hurd said in his   
   statement about the veto. "More than $200 million has already been   
   invested, alongside significant state and local contributions. Further   
   delay risks stranding taxpayer dollars and leaving communities without a   
   viable path to meeting drinking water standards. "   
      
   Groundbreaking on part of the project actually took place in 2023, but it   
   was always known that federal legislation would likely be needed to   
   complete the entire conduit.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)