Washington, DC– In an attempt to tap into the current atmosphere of reform on Capitol Hill, President Bush asked Congress Tuesday, March 7th to grant him the ability to line-item veto wasteful and unnecessary spending that adversely affects the Republicans’ pro-growth agenda. This new capacity allows the President to highlight pork-barrel spending within legislation and force greater transparency within Congress as they would be forced to take a vote on their pet projects in a separate bill.
“Pork-barrel spending, especially earmarks, does only two things for Congress. It helps Liberals get elected, which is always a problem and it corrupts Congress’s understanding of the role of the legislature. They begin to think the way to get elected is to provide fringe benefits to special interests,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “Although the line-item veto may offer some first-aid for excessive spending, it by no means solves the problem. We need real reform to the entire budgetary process.”
The importance the President places on the line-item veto is not unwarranted. Under the President’s current authority, vetoing entire spending bills creates unnecessary burdens for Congress while line-item vetoing only parts of legislation allows the President and Congress to streamline the entire process.
“The line-item veto would help the President prevent raids on the taxpayers’ wallets. It is clear that the line-item veto is another line of defense for taxpayers,” continued Norquist. “But this legislation is not the end of reform. We must eliminate pork-barrel spending. It will end our pro-growth agenda and give Liberals an opportunity to raise our taxes again.”