Dear Representative Ryan:
On behalf of the 350,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I write to endorse your Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006 (H.R. 4890). Your pro-taxpayer bill would help to give weight to a President's rescission proposals by requiring each Congressional chamber to hold a privileged up-or-down vote on the requests. While NTU also supports a Constitutional Amendment permitting a Presidential line item veto, all Representatives should actively work to build strong legislative mechanisms that could expedite Congressional consideration of proposals to cut wasteful spending.
NTU has long supported the line item veto and other reforms that would reduce the budget process's built-in biases towards higher spending. If the last several years have proven anything, it is that Congress is simply unable or unwilling to curb its insatiable appetite for pork. For instance, last year's highway bill contained nearly 6,500 earmarked projects worth more than $24 billion, while countless additional bills are laden with extraneous or unnecessary spending. A legislative line item veto would help fight earmark abuse by opening up the possibility of removing specific unjustifiable programs from appropriations bills that are unlikely to be vetoed as a whole.
Since 2001, the federal government has undergone an expansion of 33 percent - the largest overall increase in inflation-adjusted federal spending since the massive outlays associated with Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Clearly, since Congress lacks the institutional will to stop this reckless spending, a structural solution, such as the legislative line item veto, is required if we want to set our government down the path of fiscal responsibility.
During its short existence, the line item veto proved itself an effective weapon against out-of-control spending. Unfortunately, in Clinton v. City of New York, which reached the United States Supreme Court, the Presidential line item veto was ruled unconstitutional. Yet the need for budget control is greater today than ever before. Your proposal would give a more accountable role to the President, preserve legislative prerogatives, and help restore fiscal responsibility to the federal government. Taxpayers look forward to the advancement of H.R. 4890.
Sincerely,
Kristina Rasmussen
Senior Government Affairs Manager