Rhino
06-22-2006, 01:29 PM
House to Vote on Weaker Version of Line-Item Veto Power
Thursday, June 22, 2006
WASHINGTON — The House moved toward giving President Bush greater power to strip bills of "pork barrel" spending projects Thursday in a weaker version of the line-item veto law struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998.
The idea was advancing amid debate about lawmakers' penchant for stuffing parochial projects into spending bills that the president must accept or reject in their entirety. Lawmakers have rallied to support each other's projects when challenged in recent House votes.
In a test vote, the House advanced the measure for debate, 228-196. A final vote was to come late Thursday.
The bill would allow the president to single out items contained in appropriations bills he signs into law, and it would require Congress to vote on those items again. It also could be used against increases in benefit programs and tax breaks aimed at a single beneficiary.
Under the proposal, it would take a simple majority in both the House and the Senate to approve the items over the president's objections.
The hope is that wasteful spending or special interest tax breaks would be vulnerable since Congress might vote to reject such items once they are no longer protected by their inclusion in bigger bills that the president has little choice but to sign...........http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200611,00.html
Thursday, June 22, 2006
WASHINGTON — The House moved toward giving President Bush greater power to strip bills of "pork barrel" spending projects Thursday in a weaker version of the line-item veto law struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998.
The idea was advancing amid debate about lawmakers' penchant for stuffing parochial projects into spending bills that the president must accept or reject in their entirety. Lawmakers have rallied to support each other's projects when challenged in recent House votes.
In a test vote, the House advanced the measure for debate, 228-196. A final vote was to come late Thursday.
The bill would allow the president to single out items contained in appropriations bills he signs into law, and it would require Congress to vote on those items again. It also could be used against increases in benefit programs and tax breaks aimed at a single beneficiary.
Under the proposal, it would take a simple majority in both the House and the Senate to approve the items over the president's objections.
The hope is that wasteful spending or special interest tax breaks would be vulnerable since Congress might vote to reject such items once they are no longer protected by their inclusion in bigger bills that the president has little choice but to sign...........http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200611,00.html