Bush Quietly Capitulates On Threat To Veto College Bill

President Bush today quietly backed down from a threat he made to veto the College Cost Reduction Act, which cuts interest rates on government-backed student loans, and increases the amount of money available under the federal Pell Grant.

Bush signed the bill this morning with House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) in a White House ceremony. Miller said the bill "shows how the Congress and the President can work together" -- in fact, it shows how President Bush can be forced to capitulate to the Democratic Congress on key issues.

Over the summer, the White House threatened to veto the bill, charging that it "fails to target aid to the neediest students currently in college and creates new mandatory Federal programs and policies."

A House Democratic aide confirmed to the Huffington Post that no major changes sought by the White House were made in the legislation Bush signed today.

The President offered no explanation for why he changed his position. He offered only one reservation in his remarks:

This bill does, however, create new and duplicative programs that divert resources from the Pell Grants. This bill makes some spending commitments that aren't paid for yet, and I look forward to working with the Congress to ensure Pell Grant increases that are not fully funded in this bill are paid for with offsets in other areas.

The bill passed the Senate overwhelmingly, but Bush needed to switch only two votes in the House to maintain a veto. His cave-in today has raised hopes that recent threats to veto children's health care legislation may also be mostly posturing.