I have an article out tomorrow at The American Thinker website. Deputy Editor Monica Showalter helped shape it up, and my thanks to her.
As the article reveals, I want to set up an organization called Americans for a Line Item Veto (ALIVE). For now, ALIVE’s website will be the Reagan Project. So here’s the first ALIVE Bulletin.
Looking into the political history of the line item reveals:
- A campaign is underway in ultra-blue Rhode Island to give the Governor the line-item veto. The campaign’s website says that of their 38 State Senators, 37 are in favor, none opposed, and one unknown.
- On the 1996 vote to give President Clinton the line-item veto by statute, the following voted yea; John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Diane Feinstein and Joe Biden.
- The only organized opposition to the line-item veto is the John Birch Society. Why were we not surprised?
Right now, Congress writes the budget, in a manner of speaking. That’s why it’s a national disgrace. The President’s budget is dead on arrival. With the line-item veto, everything changes. The President’s budget is the budget. Any legislative increases can be vetoed, one by one.
The founding fathers most feared an executive tyrant, or king, so the Presidency is a deliberately weak institution. All the power was given to Congress. The states, using Article V, are taking some of that power from Congress, and the only place to put it is in the Presidency.
Putting Congress in its place is very good politics. The politics of Article V are like a great untapped dome of oil, ready with a gusher of votes for the man who taps in to it.
reaganproject.com 