Line Item Veto: Legalizing Political Corruption !
Incumbents on both sides of the aisle are lining up behind the next titanic piece of legislation to corrupt our government and politics even further. The legislation is the Line Item Veto. Here is why it will corrupt our system further and why both sides are lining up behind it.
The grain of truth in the bill is that the President can strike unworthy spending from an appropriations bill (spending bill). But, think about it. Because a President can do a thing does not mean a President will do a thing.
Would a Republican President dare strike more than a token of pork spending for those in his own party. Pork spending is what politicians use to get votes for reelection. And by the same token, would a President have any other choice but to use the line item veto against the pork spending of his opponent's party? Thus insuring that the opponent's constituents grow dissatisfied with their representative's performance in bringing federal dollars to their district or state. In a nutshell, spending of the President's party will be "Necessary". Spending of the opposition party will be "Pork" to be cut with the line item veto.
We are witnessing a dangerous shift in the office of President away from representing all of the American people toward representing the interests of only those Americans who support the President and his/her party. The line item veto will greatly speed up this dangerous shift in American leadership. And the political corruption resulting would only compound and increase over time. Whole states will gain or lose federal contracts, FEMA preparation services, education funding, military base spending and relocation, depending on the party of the President whether that state voted for or against the President's party. C'mon, folks, you know how politics works.
Republicans are lining up behind it for obvious reasons. They are in power and the line item veto would help them remain in power by cutting spending for Democratic spending amendments and compromises in the legislation coming before the President. But, why are some
Democrats also lining up behind this line item veto? Simple, they believe they will win the Presidency in 2008. And this would serve to give their President the power to retake the Senate and House by the measures I outlined above.
This line item veto, will in the end, not serve the American people. It will only serve the party of the President. If passed, the line item veto cuts will simply make more deficit spending available for the President's party and less for the minority party. Since, all politicians currently use deficit spending to get votes back home, do you really believe the line-item veto will discipline Congress or the President away from spending as a means to hold power?
Quite the opposite will happen. With power comes ever greater excesses of abuse. And when the party in power is called into question over those abuses threatening their hold on power, what will they do to counteract it? They will run straight to the line item veto to target funding for those constituents who are questioning the ruling party the loudest, thereby, diminishing their anti-incumbent power at the polls.
Make no mistake, in the long run, the line item veto will not discipline politicians to spend less. Only anti-incumbent voters can do that. The line item veto will only make unseating incumbents all that much more difficult. How many opposed to a ruling party's policies are going to vote against them if the ruling party is appeasing their dissent with a huge growth in jobs in their district or state. This will just become more of the same. Deficits for votes.
The line item veto was ruled unconstitutional in the 1990's by the Supreme Court. It has been rewritten to possibly pass muster by this new and more conservative Supreme Court which leans toward ever greater power of the Executive Branch of government. The Constitution clearly posits the responsibility for spending in the people's Congress. The line item veto transfers a fair amount of that power to the President. But instead of the President becoming the discipline of the Congress, the President will wield the line item veto for political advantage, and that will not serve the nation's future nor the majority of voters in America.
Comments
The whole idea of line item veto is bad. We have it here in Georgia. The Governors, all of them use it to punish anyone that dares not fall into lockstep with them.
Our current Governor, a Republican, has line item some pretty good legislation because a Democrat sponsored it while leaving some horrible amendment sponsored by Republicans alone.
The worst abuser of the line item veto though was Jimmy Carter.
If the President had line item veto and used it responsibly it could be a good thing. But the truth is no President will. At least not until the voters start demanding responsibility from our elected officials.
Until then I'm against it. And even then I'm not so sure I'd be for it.
Posted by: Ron Brown | June 26, 2006 10:42 AM
The line item veto is a dangerous usurption of Constitutionally granted Congressional powers. How it can be seen in any other way eludes me? Our government was designed with checks and balances for a reason; it's too bad that the political parties have re-designed the role of cheques and imbalances in their own image.
Posted by: Stephanie | July 6, 2006 4:09 PM