Posted on 01/26/2010 12:05:08 PM PST by rabscuttle385
Sens. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) are jumping on the spending freeze bandwagon, calling on Congress to flatline discretionary spending—and they issued a challenge to the president the day after the White House proposed its own three-year budget freeze.
"If the president is serious—and I believe he is—he should also say tomorrow night he will veto the first appropriations bill that comes to his desk that has an earmark on it," McCain said.
The Fiscal Freeze Act of 2010, which Bayh and McCain hope to introduce to the Senate later this week, includes provisions to install a spending freeze and earmark moratorium until the deficit is eliminated, enforce the Congressional budget resolution as binding law and even create a constitutionally viable line-item veto to "give the President power to strike out wasteful earmarks and other extraneous spending items."
Both McCain and Bayh are up for re-election this year.
The senators’ announcement comes after a failed 53-46 roll call vote on creating a statutory deficit commission amendment and in advance of Wednesday's State of the Union address, when Obama plans to announce his spending freeze on non security spending.
When asked about his take on Obama's about-face on spending caps — and the president's accusation when he was a candidate that McCain was out-of-touch for suggesting just such a spending freeze — McCain commended the President's recent actions while gently chiding his rhetoric on the trail.
"I think the president understands now how serious this problem is, that it requires hatchets and scalpels. It requires a hatchet to get the budget under control and it requires a scalpel to eliminate wasteful and unnecessary spending," McCain said. "So I appreciate the fact that the president has changed his position since the campaign."
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Yes, Juan....let’s just give this Dictator a line-item veto, just when we are about to retake the Senate and/or House, and let’s just give him the power to negate ANY power we might gain from this....jeeessssshhhh....people wonder now why the hell anyone, even a Republican, listens to you any more...go away and fade off into the sunset.. you’ve outlived what good you’ll do in this world.
Constitutional or not, Obama is the last president who should be given a line item veto. Just look at how his nitwit attorney general uses his discretion: letting off 100% guilty black panther voter intimidators, Mirandizing a terrorist who was singing like a bird. And they’d use a line item veto just as stupidly.
And I think Juan McCain might be overplaying his hand. The challenge from JD really has the little backstabber fired up, and the voters might not be as impressed with some of his recent maneuvers as he expects.
Lame Duck and Crazed Duck come up with an idea.
Either you think a line item veto is a good idea or you do not.
Either you think the line item veto is Constitutional, or you disagree.
Such positions should be irrespective of who is currently and temporarily occupying the Oval Office.
Where in the constitution does it even MENTION stuffing earmarks into bills after they’ve already been voted LET ALONE saying anything about the constitutionality of banning them?
LOL
Congress finally passed it as a law, under Clinton. Clinton used it once. Then the Supreme Court ruled that the line-item veto could only be established by a constitutional amendment.
McCain is only ten years behind the curve on this. Fool that he is.
John / Billybob
If he uses it at all, he can only cut spending, not add stuff. If he only cuts Republican earmarks, (not a bad idea, imo), and not Democrat, he will be branded as a hyperpartisan. Finally, if the line item veto is passed now, it will be in place in 2012, ready for Palin to wield it at will.
Regarding Reagan and his line item veto. I thought most of the Republicans in Congress were for it, but the democrats were freaking out. Unfortunately, Reagan lost one of the two houses of Congress in ‘82 and never had both houses under Republican majority for the rest of his Presidency.
Has McCain ever sponsored a bill with a Republican?
Or one that has ever even favored the “republic for which he stands”?
The line item veto is GOOD - we WANT that
All it can ever be used for is cutting spending
Yes a democrap may occasionaly weild it, but thats OK you gotta take the good with the bad
Why is John always reaching across the aisle? How come the Dems don’t reach across the aisle?
The freeze idea is idiotic. It is meaningless.
Where do you find some legal distinction between the "original bill" and the bill after earmarks were added in committee? The bill with added earmarks and any amendments is still voted on by Congress. It's still a bill approved by Congress and sent to the President for signature.
And the freeze idea is also pretty deceitful and hypocrital after Obama has increased most all discretionary spending by amounts greater than any president before: increasing by a big percentage then freezing. Don''t have details, but fairly sure that is that is the case.
Where it enumerates powers delegated to the various branches of government. The Executive Branch Head can pick and choose what he likes in a bill that he is signing? I don't think so. The legislature writes the bill, like it or not..
Considering the fact that this president is using taxpayer dollars to pay off supporters, I have a lot of trouble believing that he wouldn’t use the line item veto as a weapon against opponents.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
Hey Sarah McPalin, how’s that support of McCain going?
I agree. The Independents, who now control some regional and the national election, are finally awake and are watching this administration closely. (See Mass.) They will be critical of partisian shenanigans by this administration.
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