Clinton attempted to do the same. This can also be viewed as an attempt to reign in the legislatures inapropriate bill atatchments in a way that can stay qwiet and not cause flack for delaying important legislature with a complete veto.
Bush is on the way out, if this were to not come into effect untill the next potus takes office what could you say of it then? "Pappy I want the next random guy, probly a democrat due to my stupid iraq war to be dictator over me."? As long as he cant rewrite a line, its fine. --- In [email protected], "John Stroebel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Well now, it seems Bush jr wants to grab a little more power. Rove and > Cheney got him the Supreme Court, a slim majority in both houses (until > Nov at least), he has his fun with 'signing statements'...now he wants > authority for line item veto on funding approved by Congress. The reason > be believes this is a good idea: 'One pinhead is better than all of > Congress.' > > 'Pappy, I wanna be appointed DICTATOR next!" jr tells Bush sr..."I wanna > be the BIG Decider!" Well OK georgie honey, time you string all those > vacations together into one BIG vacation! Hows about you just > concentrate on clearing shrub, drinking heavily and doing Condi....until > the Federal Marshals come by to take you on that long Federal > vacation??? Hmmm??? > > Folks, vote in November...and take 10 friends with ya. > > White House steps up effort to gain line-item veto > House expected to vote on bill today; Dem leaders mostly opposed to plan > > > By JULIE MASON > Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau > > WASHINGTON - The White House on Wednesday intensified a last-minute > campaign to win line-item veto authority from Congress, but a top > administration official conceded that the outcome was far from certain. > > The House today is expected to vote on a bill that would allow the > president to red-line specific expenditures in appropriation bills. > > "It's not going to be easy to get this to the president's desk," said > Rob Portman, director of the Office of Management and Budget. "This is a > major change." > > Portman, a former Republican congressman from Ohio, has been pushing the > issue on Capitol Hill, and on Wednesday met with reporters from 13 > regional newspapers, hoping to drum up more support for the plan. > > "This is not about President Bush, this is something that's for the > presidency," Portman said. "Forty-three governors have something quite > similar to this, so it's not untested." > > Congress in 1996 gave President Clinton line-item veto power, but two > years later the courts struck it down as unconstitutional, in part > because it gave too much power to the executive branch. > > In its new incarnation, the president's line-item veto could be reversed > by a simple majority in both House and Senate. The old line-item veto > required a two-thirds margin of both House and Senate to override the > president. > > The Democratic leadership in the House is mostly opposed to the plan, > along with some Republican appropriators. > > Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, said he supported line-item authority in the > 1990s but worries that Bush already is grabbing too much power from > Congress. > > "I really don't feel comfortable having a stronger executive branch in > our country," Green said. "I would rather look at it again, sometime, > when we don't have an executive taking a lot of power unto themselves." > > In a worst-case scenario, a president could use the line-item veto > threat as a wedge to punish or blackmail lawmakers, said Rep. Al Green, > D-Houston. > > "I am opposed to it," Green said. "I think it could become terribly > politicized in the long run." > > But Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, called line-item veto authority > "a great idea." > > "They ought to call it the 'public embarrassment for obscene pork bill,' > and hopefully it will be a deterrent for some of these ridiculous > earmarks," Brady said. > > Spiraling federal spending is a potent election-year issue, and the > Republican-led Congress feels pressure to appear fiscally responsible. A > wave of lobbying scandals and renewed focus on thousands of earmarks, > which are expenditures added to spending bills by individual lawmakers, > have prompted criticism of congressional extravagance. > > Stephen Hess, a communications professor and government scholar at > George Washington University, said that neither earmarks nor line- item > vetoes make a significant dent in the massive federal budget. > > "It's just around the edges," Hess said. "Clearly line-item is aimed at > keeping the budget down, but when you look at the expenditures it can > keep down, given the size of the budget, you realize that although it > shouldn't sound like petty change, it really is." > > Clinton used his line-item veto 82 times in two years, and cut about $1 > billion in federal spending. The current federal budget is about $2.7 > trillion, and the national debt is $8.4 trillion. > > The Senate Budget Committee recently approved a similar measure, as well > as other budget reforms, but it was unclear when the full Senate might > consider it. > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/6pRQfA/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/KlSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! 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