Thu
Jan 18 2007
01:44 pm
Senate Dems' flagship ethics bill torpedoed
By: R. Neal

Senate Republicans filibuster ethics reform. It's the dawn of a new era of bipartisanship in Congress!

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WhitesCreek's picture

Trust me?

Submitted by WhitesCreek on Thu, 2007/01/18 - 2:16pm.

Interesting that Republicans used the insertion of a Line Item Veto in the bill as a means of killing it.

Everyone on the planet knows that if ever a President was not to be trusted with the power of a line item veto it is George W. Bush. I can't even believe Republicans were serious about handing him that power. I mean, if you thought "signing statements" were a usurpation of power, just let a sociopath get the ability to black out anything he doesn't like in a piece of legislation. For instance, what do you think W would do with this one:

"The President must obey the laws of the United States of America."

Eleanor A's picture

The line item veto has

Submitted by Eleanor A on Thu, 2007/01/18 - 2:20pm.

The line item veto has traditionally been pushed for appropriations bills...which in the abstract I can understand, but in the specific will lead to nothing but Republican districts receiving billions in largesse, while Democratic districts (New York, California, virtually the entirety of Massachusetts) receive the bare minimum in funding.

Just another tool in the arsenal Bush wants to build to turn this into the largest banana republic on the face of the earth.

mpower1952's picture

IIRC

Submitted by mpower1952 on Thu, 2007/01/18 - 2:27pm.

Wasn't the line item veto ruled unconstitutional?

Be a blessing to someone today.

mpower1952's picture

Wiki says

Submitted by mpower1952 on Thu, 2007/01/18 - 2:29pm.

The President of the United States was briefly granted this power by the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, passed by Congress in order to control "pork barrel spending" that favors a particular region rather than the nation as a whole. The line-item veto was used 11 times to strike 82 items from the federal budget[2] [3] by President Bill Clinton.

However, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan decided on February 12, 1998, that unilateral amendment or repeal of only parts of statutes violated the U.S. Constitution. This ruling was subsequently affirmed on June 25, 1998, by a 6-3 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case Clinton v. City of New York.

A constitutional amendment to give the President line item veto power has been considered periodically since the Court ruled the 1996 Act unconstitutional.

Be a blessing to someone today.

Eleanor A's picture

The GOP claims this bill

Submitted by Eleanor A on Thu, 2007/01/18 - 3:37pm.

The GOP claims this bill won't be unconstitutional.

Which seems like grasping at straws, and may come back to haunt 'em later, if the Dems can get their act together on this.

R. Neal's picture

Yeah, the way I read it was

Submitted by R. Neal on Thu, 2007/01/18 - 4:23pm.

Yeah, the way I read it was that the new and improved line item veto would involve Bush sending over a list of stuff he doesn't want to see in the budget and Congress would be expected to act accordingly, because he's the, you know, decider and stuff.

CE Petro's picture

It Passed

Submitted by CE Petro on Fri, 2007/01/19 - 8:36am.

it passed last night without the line-item veto attached. Also the repugs wouldn't allow an independent investigative offce to be formed.

The article I had pointed to said that there was alot of public outrage thus the GOP had to, ummm, flip-flop.

WhitesCreek's picture

I think the Dems caved. They

Submitted by WhitesCreek on Fri, 2007/01/19 - 8:58am.

I think the Dems caved. They agreed to attach the line Item Veto to the minimum wage bill. Dunno details but that's lousy.

George Bush is a prime example of why Presidents should NOT have LIV.

Andy Axel's picture

Up or down vote! Up or down

Submitted by Andy Axel on Fri, 2007/01/19 - 9:57am.

Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Up or down vote!

____________________________

Dirty mouth language -- it's the new black.

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