Bill Wilcox gives a nice, concise history of budget bills in this article. Is it long past time for a line item veto?
Comments (1)
Agreed written by Michael Iacono , March 12, 2009
I wholeheartedly agree. Obama talked a good game about reining in earmarks during his campaign, but so far has acquiesced to Congress' businesses-as-usual approach. Giving him the power of a line-item veto would put the ball squarely in his court and give him the tool he needs to restrict this practice.
There are over 8,000 earmarks in the current budget bill, yet the president has indicated that he will probably sign it. Unless someone can argue that all of this spending is necessary and couldn't wait for a more closely related bill, I'm left with the impression that Congress holds the cards and has no intention of holding itself accountable.
