President Bush sent legislation to congress yesterday to give him the Line item Veto power he needs to reduce cut spending and Pork projects. This a very good thing and can save us time and tons of money if the lawmakers really care about working to cut the deficit.
President Bush on Monday asked lawmakers to give him a modified version of the line-item veto struck down by the Supreme Court eight years ago.
Bush is now pressing for a modified, weaker version. Instead of being able to strike items from bills, he would send one or more items back to Congress for an up-or-down vote. Present law permits Congress to ignore these proposed rescissions, but under the Bush proposal lawmakers would have to vote on them. If majorities in both the House and the Senate agreed with the president, the cuts would take effect.
“Forty-three governors have this line-item veto in their states,” Bush said. “Now it’s time to bring this important tool of fiscal discipline to Washington, D.C.”
But some lawmakers mostly Dems are only concerned about their ability to buy votes and power.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he was opposed to the idea even though he supported a similar plan in 1995 when offered as a weaker alternative to the GOP version.
a proposal similar to Bush’s veto plan was actually voted down by the House two years ago on a 237-174 vote, with three out of four Democrats voting “nay.” Some 89 Republicans, including then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., also opposed the measure.
Lawmakers opposed to the line-item veto idea say that Congress should carefully guard its power of the purse and that presidents could use the expanded power against their political enemies.
Read the AP article.
Blogs for Bush wonders too.
