Pelosi Statement on Line-Item Veto for Budget Bills

Pelosi Statement on Line-Item Veto for Budget Bills

Washington, D.C.- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on President Bush's proposed legislation that would create a line-item veto for budget bills, allowing him to strip out specific spending passed by Congress:

"If the President were really serious about the deficit, he would begin by submitting a balanced budget. Instead, President Bush has presided over the largest fiscal turnaround in our nation's history, turning a projected $5.6 trillion surplus to a deficit of $3.3 trillion.

"The Bush Administration has spent us into record deficits and piled mountains of debt onto our children. Yet, outside of the first two years when he used the legacy of the Clinton Administration's fiscal surpluses, President Bush has yet to submit a balanced budget or veto a single spending bill. Republicans control not only the White House, but also both houses of Congress - and the Republican Congress rubber stamps the President's out-of-control budgets.

"Budget experts agree that the line-item veto would do little to control deficits, and the Bush Administration fails to do what it takes to get our financial house in order - submit a balanced budget and reinstate the pay-as-you-go rule. These are the rules that every family must live by - and Democrats believe that this is what the federal government must do."

http://democraticleader.house.gov/press/releases.cfm?pressReleaseID=1444