Veto

BEIJING -- Yesterday's meeting between the Chinese and Soviet foreign ministers in western China provided another indication that China is not likely to veto a United Nations resolution on the use of force to resolve the gulf crisis, Western diplomats said here last night.Few details were available here about the suddenly called, 90-minute private meeting between Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and Eduard A. Shevardnadze, his Soviet counterpart, in the city of Urumqi near the Soviet border.China's news service quoted Mr. Qian as saying, "Both sides are firmly opposed to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait and demand that Iraq withdraw from Kuwait as soon as possible."

THERE was never any doubt that Gov. Parris Glendening was going to veto a Y2K bill promoted strongly by the state's business community. It was the way he did it that drew so much attention.Ordinarily, the governor releases his vetoes all at once. Not this time.Mr. Glendening held a special ceremony last week to announce his rejection of a bill designed to give businesses limited protection concerning the computer software problem commonly called the Y2K bug.He made a big show of this veto, essentially accusing business interests of trying to deny consumers any legal recourse in the event of horrendous accidents as a result of computer problems that occur when 2000 arrives and some older computers read the date as 00 and interpret it as 1900.

"If the legislation you send me does not guarantee every American private health insurance that can never be taken away, I will take this pen, veto the legislation and tell you to start over again." So said President Clinton at the most contentious moment of his State of the Union address.To some experts, this was a line in the sand he had to draw. Unlike last year's budget fight, which easily lent itself to Capital Hill horse-trading, the health plan drawn up by Hillary Rodham Clinton may be a stone arch that falls to pieces if one of its major building blocks is taken away.

CHICAGO -- In the last five years, the federal budget has done a good impression of major-league sluggers, bulking up to such frightful proportions as to be almost unrecognizable. Baseball responded to the excess girth by cracking down on steroids. President Bush, however, wants to try stomach-stapling. Last week, he urged Congress to give him a line-item veto so he can "reduce wasteful spending." In reality, he's about as likely to cut spending as he is to give the next State of the Union address in Aramaic.

WHO WOULD have thought that a pedigreed Connecticut Yankee, educated at Andover and Yale, would dabble in white backlash?But what other plausible explanation can there be for George Bush's veto of the first civil rights bill to come across his presidential desk?If Bush really believed that he was vetoing a "quota bill," he had to ignore impressive testimony -- easily a preponderance of the evidence -- to the contrary, and not just from the women and racial minorities who would have benefited from the measure's anti-discrimination provisions.

Harford County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann has vetoed a bill that would empower the County Council to review and approve any settlement over $100,000 paid by the county from its self-insurance fund.The council was expected to vote late last night on whether to override the veto. It takes five votes from the seven-member council to override a veto."I can't in good conscience sign a bill I firmly believe is in violation of the county charter," Mrs. Rehrmann said yesterday.The bill, sponsored by six council members, grew out of concern about $400,000 the county paid the family of inmate William M. Ford, who died in the Harford County Detention Center in March 1992.

County Executive Charles I. Ecker vetoed the County Council's redistricting plan Friday, saying it unnecessarily divides communities, hastoo wide a range of population between districts and is not compact enough.Ecker also vetoed a council bill creating a spending affordability committee to deal with the fiscal 1993 budget. He called thebill too restrictive, but said he has established by executive ordera spending affordability committee to deal with the fiscal 1993 budget.Council Chairman C. Vernon Gray, D-3rd, said he was appalled by both vetoes -- the first by an executive since Gray cast his first vote on the council in December 1982.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton has laid down his hardest line since Republicans took power in Congress, vowing yesterday to veto an attempt to rewrite a provision in last year's crime bill that was meant to put 100,000 new police officers on the street.It was the first explicit veto threat from Mr. Clinton since the voters returned a divided government.The threat comes after several months in which the president has swung between broad attempts at conciliation and brief hints of confrontation.

WASHINGTON -- As if things weren't going badly enough with the budget crisis and threat of war in the Persian Gulf, President Bush awoke this morning to face the prospect of another jolt to his popularity from his anticipated veto of a major civil rights bill.After months of negotiations with the White House that ultimately failed, the House followed the Senate's lead yesterday by giving final approval to a measure designed to combat discrimination in the workplace by making it easier for victims to get their grievances addressed.

A bill weakening Maryland's landmark workplace smoking ban easily won final approval in the state legislature last night.The House of Delegates voted 92 to 39 to exempt hotels, bars and many restaurants from the ban, which takes effect Monday. A few hours later, the Senate agreed, 35 to 11.Gov. Parris N. Glendening has promised to veto the bill "with a great deal of personal conviction." But legislators say they have enough votes to override the veto as early as next week.Even in its watered-down form, the ban will be one of the toughest in the nation, legislators say. It forbids smoking in offices, factories, stores, restaurants without liquor licenses, and even work vehicles occupied by more than one employee.