The length of time the information remains on your report depends upon how it was reported in the first place: collection accounts stay for seven years, and public records last on your report for ten years.
Or it can be limited, as in the legislative process of the United States, where a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate may override a Presidential veto of legislation. A veto gives power only to stop changes, not to adopt them (except for the rare amendatory veto). Thus a veto allows its holder to protect the status quo. The concept of a veto body originated with the Roman consuls and tribunes.
There seems to be some confusion in the press over how many votes will be needed to override President Bush's veto of the SCHIP bill. It's pretty much basic arithmetic. There are 435 members in the House. You need a 2/3rds majority of all voting members to overide a veto. So at most, 290 members will have to vote to override. That's all we know for sure. 265 members voted for the SCHIP bill the President vetoed. But 11 members didn't vote. So that means that 18 members would have to switch their votes to override the bill. Or let's say all 11 members who didn't vote decide to support it.