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
Ahem
The 1986 bill was the Coats-McCain bill.
He was one of the primary sponsors and had been since Reagan had asked for it in his 1986 State of the Union Address.
And tonight I ask you to give me what 43 Governors have: Give me a line-item veto this year. Give me the authority to veto waste, and I'll take the responsibility, I'll make the cuts, I'll take the heat. This authority would not give me any monopoly power, but simply prevent spending measures from sneaking through that could not pass on their own merit.
After the 1996 law was nullified by the Supreme Court, McCain attempted to resurrect it with versions that met their objections but was stopped by inner city Southern Senators with a vested interest in keeping the earmarks.