Line Item Veto

A detailed Summary of Line Item Veto

The line item veto is a law that gives the President much more power in deciding how the country will spend its money. Here's how it works: Once the president signs a bill that has to do with the budget or federal spending, he has five days to decide if he wants to veto any particular spending items or special tax breaks that bill contains. This means the President has the power to cut funding to certain parts of the any given bill, even though Congress has approved it. The President has to tell Congress what part of the bill he wishes to veto and why. He also must tell how the change affects certain states, and the how periodically the change would affect the given state(s). In the past, the President only had the choice of passing the ENTIRE bill, or vetoing the ENITRE bill. This means he even had to fund projects he thought were a waste of effort, time, and money. But with the line item veto in effect, it gives the President tremendous power in controlling the government spending because he has more direct control over what programs get funding.

However, even though the President has the power of the line item veto, there are limitations to his powers. Congress has the power to overturn the pre

sident's line item veto, and all it takes is a simple majority. If the President decides to veto that AS WELL, then Congress needs a two-thirds majority to override the Presidents veto, and then it is final.

The line item veto puts too much power in to the hands on one person. If the President happens to be corrupt, or a crook, which is possible, the line item veto could create a huge problem. There would be many ways for the President to take advantage of his new power. Lets pretend that the health insurance industry runs TV advertisements that attack the Presidents health care legislation. The President could simply give the health industry a phone call and say something like, "If you really want those special tax cuts for your company, you'd better can those ads!" Its frightening to think of how many ways this power could be abused, and its equally scary to see just how easy and possible it is for something like this to happen.

The purpose of the line item veto is to reduce, and not to redistribute government spending, the President is not allowed to cut funds to one program and then use them for another. This means that if he cuts 500 million, that 500 million is not his to spend, it is gone from the budget for the remainder of the year. The President is also not allowed to simply reduce the size of a line item, he must get rid of it all together. This means that if a bill called for forty new schools to be built, The pres

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Category: Politics