Toomey Calls For Line-Item Veto
Sunday, in a little-noted (but ‘important’ – see below) post, I outlined the second plank of my version of a winning Republican agenda, free trade. I spent a lot of time, however, going over the economic issue I think is most important for Republicans, and that’s getting control of the deficit. We’ve got to become the party of small government again, as difficult as that may be in wartime.
One step I mentioned is given a far more comprehensive treatment by Pat Toomey of the Club for Growth, and that’s the return of the Presidential line-item veto. I suggested a version with a two-thirds override with a Constitutional Amendment, since Clinton’s line-item veto was ruled unconstitutional in 1998. President Bush has a scaled-back proposal that Toomey discusses:
Under the President’s proposal, when Congress passes an appropriations bill, rather than canceling pork-barrel spending projects, a president would suggest rescissions of selected projects to Congress and there would be a timely up-or-down vote on his suggestions. The vote would require a simple majority in Congress to publicly reaffirm their support for these individual items. Because Congress would retain the final say, conservatives’ fear about excessive executive power is unfounded. In fact, a modestly more powerful executive may be a necessary balance against a Congress that, for at least the last decade, has set the spending agenda with mostly disastrous results.
With all due respect, Pat, the more powerful executive approach is probably not the best presentation at the moment…but the idea is worth fighting for. Every possible tool in the fight against spiraling budgets, pork, and earmarks should be fought for and utilized…and yes, that’s a winning agenda…
It does look like the stop-me-before-I-spend-again Congressional club is willing to pass some kind of line-item veto law. But given the administration’s record on the deficit to date, I doubt very much that they would use the power wisely.