Bush pushes for line-item veto
Liberals sit on hands and ignore attempts at financial restraint...
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Ok, so maybe my sub-title above isn't entirely true, and perhaps it's actually both liberal and conservative *spenders* in the Congress that are sitting on their hands and ignoring the request, but either way chances that we'll ever see a line-item veto power (that passes constitutional review/muster) granted to the president seems slim to me.
There's just too much at stake to let the President have the power to wipe out pet projects, set-asides, ear-marks and other wasteful pork spending projects.
Headline below is linked.
Bush pushes for line-item veto
By Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
President Bush yesterday called for the Senate to send him a bill establishing a legislative line-item veto, saying the tool is important to restrain spending and keep the economy growing.
The House has passed a version of the line-item veto that would give the president new powers to strip projects out of spending bills. Mr. Bush, in his weekly radio address, said it is time for the Senate do the same.
"This was a victory for the taxpayers and for spending restraint," he said. "I call on the Senate to show a bipartisan commitment to fiscal discipline by passing the line-item veto so we can work together to cut wasteful spending, reduce the deficit and save money for American taxpayers."
He said he would use the line-item veto to eliminate many of the pork-barrel projects that lawmakers insert into spending bills. Such projects totaled $29 billion last year.
"A line-item veto would reduce the incentive for Congress to spend wastefully because, when lawmakers know their pet projects will be held up to public scrutiny, they will be less likely to suggest them in the first place," Mr. Bush said.
The president plans a speech Tuesday to make another push for a Senate bill.
Since Hurricane Katrina created budget headaches last year, conservatives have called for more spending restraint in Congress and the White House.
Mr. Bush won a round in the spending fight earlier this month when Congress sent him an emergency spending bill at his target number, far below what the Senate had proposed to spend. He seeks to capitalize on that victory with the line-item veto.
The legislation would allow the president to identify proposed cuts in spending measures and send them back to Congress, which would have a set period of time to vote on the executive bill.
The president currently can send up a bill with spending cuts, but Congress is under no obligation to vote on it.
In 1996, Congress gave the president full line-item veto authority to strip items from spending bills, but the Supreme Court ruled that power unconstitutional, arguing it ceded too much authority from the legislature to the executive.
... more at linked article (please see original for complete story)
There's just too much at stake to let the President have the power to wipe out pet projects, set-asides, ear-marks and other wasteful pork spending projects.
Headline below is linked.
Bush pushes for line-item veto
By Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
President Bush yesterday called for the Senate to send him a bill establishing a legislative line-item veto, saying the tool is important to restrain spending and keep the economy growing.
The House has passed a version of the line-item veto that would give the president new powers to strip projects out of spending bills. Mr. Bush, in his weekly radio address, said it is time for the Senate do the same.
"This was a victory for the taxpayers and for spending restraint," he said. "I call on the Senate to show a bipartisan commitment to fiscal discipline by passing the line-item veto so we can work together to cut wasteful spending, reduce the deficit and save money for American taxpayers."
He said he would use the line-item veto to eliminate many of the pork-barrel projects that lawmakers insert into spending bills. Such projects totaled $29 billion last year.
"A line-item veto would reduce the incentive for Congress to spend wastefully because, when lawmakers know their pet projects will be held up to public scrutiny, they will be less likely to suggest them in the first place," Mr. Bush said.
The president plans a speech Tuesday to make another push for a Senate bill.
Since Hurricane Katrina created budget headaches last year, conservatives have called for more spending restraint in Congress and the White House.
Mr. Bush won a round in the spending fight earlier this month when Congress sent him an emergency spending bill at his target number, far below what the Senate had proposed to spend. He seeks to capitalize on that victory with the line-item veto.
The legislation would allow the president to identify proposed cuts in spending measures and send them back to Congress, which would have a set period of time to vote on the executive bill.
The president currently can send up a bill with spending cuts, but Congress is under no obligation to vote on it.
In 1996, Congress gave the president full line-item veto authority to strip items from spending bills, but the Supreme Court ruled that power unconstitutional, arguing it ceded too much authority from the legislature to the executive.
... more at linked article (please see original for complete story)
