Libertarian Librarian

After the last set of bills by Senator Coburn to divert the pork to where it was actually needed, I sent a scathing email to Senator Norm Coleman from the lame state of Minnesota. (I didn't bother to send one to Dayton since he is a big loser and has completely given up trying.)
Coleman's response was that he was for fiscal responsibility which was why he was sponsoring a constitutional amendment for presidential line item vetoes. WTF?!?!?!
I really railed on him for passing the buck to the president. And since the president currently has the authority for line item vetoes (even though it isn't constitutional authority), I was even more annoyed.
Please let me know what esteemed senators from other states have to say about their impressive spending.
 

I continue to contact my Senators and Representative about the budget (and just about everything else). Maybe with enough pressure, some of them may get the message.

The President doesn't have the authority for a line item veto, though. The Supreme Court ruling in Clinton v. City of New York (97-1374) struck down the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 on the grounds that it violated Article I, §7 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court didn't question the wisdom of the Act, but noted in the majority opinion that the change must come through the Article V amendment procedures for the President to have that power.
 

Senator Coburn was a guest on Bill Bennett's radio show this morning (11 Jan 2006). The interview (it appeared to be 12+ minutes) was available at this link, but I don't know how long the interview will be available before it is archived. It may only be available to subscribers after it is archived, but as of this posting it was available to all.

I haven't heard it, so I can't vouch for what is discussed during the interview. Seeing that Nick's post was related regarding Coburn, I thought I'd pass this on for anyone who might be interested.
 

I guess I didn't realize that the line item veto was struck down. Sorry. Still, it is a lame attempt by Coleman to use that as his excuse for wild spending.