Unprecedented Power

The following letter from Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Director Sharown Ward was published in the Harrisburg Patriot-News on September 3, 2006.

The White House is working behind the scenes, through opinion pieces from friendly groups, to garner support for line-item veto legislation ("Line-item veto would cut spending waste," "As I See It," Aug. 7).

This would give the president unprecedented power, well beyond that enjoyed by previous presidents. The House bill would allow the president to sign legislation, and then to cancel specific spending provisions in them, up to a year later.

The line-item veto could be used not only to get rid of "pork barrel" projects, but also to terminate effective, broadly supported programs that the president opposes on ideological grounds. Funding for popular programs, such as Meals on Wheels, could be cut in the middle of the night, with no debate and little recourse.

Congress should face up to the nation's budget problems and do it with the proven tool it abandoned a few years ago -- a rule that requires new tax cuts or spending items to be paid for, known as PAY-GO. They should do so on a bipartisan basis and in a spirit of shared sacrifice. Granting the president line-item veto authority shirks Congress' responsibility to make these tough choices, endangers funding for important programs and gives the president unnecessary new powers.

Sharon Ward,
Director
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center