How Mayor Giuliani "Beat" Conservatives By Killing The Line-Item Veto

 

"On behalf of the former President [Reagan], on behalf of the many millions of Americans who want this to pass, I urge all of my colleagues to vote yes and help us pass the Line-Item Veto." – Speaker Newt Gingrich (Speaker Newt Gingrich, Congressional Record, 2/6/95, p. H1262)

 

 

MYTH: Mayor Giuliani Claims He "Beat" Bill Clinton By Killing The Line-Item Veto:

 

At Last Night's Debate, Mayor Giuliani Bragged About His Efforts To Beat The Line-Item Veto By Suing President Clinton To The Supreme Court. GIULIANI: "The line item veto was unconstitutional. I took Bill Clinton to the Supreme Court and beat Bill Clinton. It's unconstitutional. What the heck can you do about that, if you're a strict constructionist?" (CNBC, Republican Presidential Candidate Debate, Dearborn, MI, 10/9/07)

 

• Mayor Giuliani: "So I Took President Clinton To Court And I Beat Him. And I Don't Think It's A Bad Idea To Have A Republican Presidential Candidate Who Actually Has Beat President Clinton At Something." (CNBC, Republican Presidential Candidate Debate, Dearborn, MI, 10/9/07)

 

FACT: Mayor Giuliani Actually "Beat" House Speaker Newt Gingrich:

 

Speaker Newt Gingrich: The Line-Item Veto "Would Allow The President To Cut Out Some Of The Worst Of The spending" And "To Set Some Fiscal Discipline." SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH: "Again and again on a bipartisan basis, President after President has said it is something that would be good for America, because it would allow the President to cut out some of the worst of the spending, to set some fiscal discipline, and to indicate where the President stood. Yet it is being done in such a way that when it is totally inappropriate, the Congress can override it and the Congress can insist on spending if there is a distinct disagreement." (Speaker Newt Gingrich, Congressional Record, 2/6/95, p. H1262)

 

• Speaker Gingrich: "This Is The Kind Of Positive Effort To Work Together That Is Good For America." (Speaker Newt Gingrich, Congressional Record, 2/6/95, p. H1262)

 

House Republicans Passed The Line-Item Veto On Ronald Reagan's 84th Birthday. SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH: "This is President Ronald Reagan's 84th birthday. ... I particularly commend the majority leader, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey], for his thoughtfulness in arranging for this debate and insisting that we do it on this date. ... On behalf of the former President, on behalf of the many millions of Americans who want this to pass, I urge all of my colleagues to vote yes and help us pass the Line-Item Veto." (Speaker Newt Gingrich, Congressional Record, 2/6/95, p. H1262)

 

FACT: Mayor Giuliani Actually "Beat" Conservatives In The U.S. House:

 

House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) Praised Passage Of The Line-Item-Veto. "'For years, the other party was unwilling to give this authority to any president, Republican or Democrat, but today we passed it,' said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Texas Republican. 'We promised the American people change, and we're giving them change.'" (Patrice Hill, "Line-Item Veto Sent To Clinton," The Washington Times, 3/29/96)

 

 

Then-Rep. John Ensign (R-NV): "The Line-Item Veto Act, Along With The Balanced Budget Amendment, Are The Only Measures Strong Enough To Hold Congress Accountable For Its spending." (Rep. John Ensign, Congressional Record, 2/6/95, p. H1217)

 

 

Rep. John Kasich (R-OH) Called Enactment Of The Line-Item Veto A "Victory For People Who Go To Work Every Day." "President Clinton is free to become the first president to use a Line-Item Veto pen on congressional spending bills. The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday threw out a challenge by six members of Congress, but left the door open to future objections once a presidential veto actually axes individual spending items or special-interest tax breaks from a bill. ... Republican Rep. John R. Kasich of Westerville called the ruling a 'victory for people who go to work every day' and a defeat for the 'politicians who want to use influence to get special deals.'" (Jonathan Riskind, "Clinton Is Cleared To Use Line-Item Veto," The Columbus Dispatch, 7/27/097)

 

FACT: Mayor Giuliani Actually "Beat" Conservatives In The U.S. Senate:

 

In 1996, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-KS) Called The Line-Item-Veto A "Long Overdue Weapon In The Fight For Fiscal Sanity." "In a written statement issued by his office, Mr. Dole called the legislation 'a long overdue weapon in the fight for fiscal sanity.'" (Alison Mitchell, "With Ceremony, Clinton Signs Line-Item Veto Measure," The New York Times, 4/10/96)

 

• Dole: "The Line-Item Veto Is A Fundamental Change And Used Properly It Will Help Put Washington On A Pork-Free Diet." (Alison Mitchell, "With Ceremony, Clinton Signs Line-Item Veto Measure," The New York Times, 4/10/96)

 

• Dole: "The President, Regardless Of Party, Should Be Able To Eliminate Unnecessary Pork-Barrel Projects From Large Appropriations Bills." (Jim Abrams, "Congress Passes Line-Item Veto," The Associated Press, 3/28/96)

 

 

Sen. Majority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) Said That Passing The Line Item Veto Shows That "We Can Rise Above Politics." '"In effect, we're taking action against our interest,' said Senate Majority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss. 'We are showing that we can rise above politics.'" ("Line-Item Veto Bill Approved In Senate," The Associated Press, 3/28/96)

 

• Lott Said That He Had Supported The Line-Item-Veto Since The 1970's. SEN. LOTT: "Yeah. I've always been for a line item veto, going back to when I first started paying attention to it in the late '70s. I was for it when Gerald Ford was President. I was for it when Jimmy Carter was President. I was for it when Ronald Reagan and George Bush were President. And I'm for it, even though Bill Clinton is President." (Sen. Trent Lott, Remarks National Broiler Council, Washington, DC, 10/5/95)

 

 

Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN): "Mr. President, No Single Measure Would Do More To Restore Fiscal Sanity To Our Budget Process Than The Line-Item Veto." (Sen. Bill Frist, Congressional Record, 3/24/95, p.S4300)

 

 

Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ): "That Is The Shift In The Balance Of Power Which The Line-Item Veto Represents. It Is A Shift In Favor Of Taxpayers, And It Is Long Overdue." (Sen. John Kyl, Congressional Record, 3/24/95, p.S4300)

 

FACT: Mayor Giuliani Actually "Beat" Conservatives Across The Country:

 

In Testimony Before Congress, The CATO Institutes' Stephen Moore Called The Line-Item-Veto An Issue Of "Vital Importance To Our Nation's Fiscal Future." STEPHEN MOORE: "Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to address the Subcommittee on the Constitution on an issue of vital importance to our nation's fiscal future: the line item for the president. I share the opinion of three-quarters of the American public that the line item veto is an essential fiscal tool for weeding out excessive and wasteful spending from the federal budget." (Subcommittee On The Constitution, U.S. Senate Hearing, 1/17/95)

 

 

Then-Gov. Tommy Thompson (R-WI) Urged Congress To Pass The Line-Item Veto. GOV. THOMPSON: "I urge you in the strongest possible terms to bring accountability back to our nation's budget process. Put the interests of the citizen's as whole ahead of the special interests; put taxpayer's concerns in front of the lobbyist's wish lists. Pass the line item veto." (Subcommittee On The Constitution, U.S. Senate Hearing, 1/24/95)

 

Then-Gov. William Weld (R-MA) Called the Line-Item-Veto An "Essential Device." GOV. WELD: "I'm delighted to have this opportunity to offer my thoughts on the Line-Item Veto, which I not only favor, but consider an essential device for any governor or president who hopes to preside over a balanced budget. I consider the Balanced Budget Amendment to be, both in its practical effect and in its spirit, the cornerstone of the Contract with America." (Committee On Government Affairs, U.S. House Of Representatives Hearing, 1/12/95)

 

• Weld: "I And 42 Other Governors Have The Power To Strike The Wasteful, The Redundant, And The Ludicrous From Our Budgets. It Is Crazy That The President Has No Such Weapon." (Committee On Government Affairs, U.S. House Of Representatives Hearing, 1/12/95)

 

FACT: Mayor Giuliani Sided With Liberal Democrats In Defeating The Line-Item Veto:

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Introduced An Amendment Opposing The Line-Item Veto. REP. PELOSI: "Mr. Chairman, I propose this amendment as one who rises in opposition to the line -item veto legislation. I oppose the legislation strenuously because I think that it does damage to the balance of power and separations of power set forth by our forefathers in the Constitution." (Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Congressional Record, 2/2/95, p. H1107)

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) Argued That The Line-Item Veto Had Previously Failed Because "It Is A Bad Idea." SEN. REID: "The effort to have a line -item veto is not something that was first devised by President Reagan, who was the first to bring it up in recent memory. No, that is not the case. The fact is, the line -item veto comes up about every 20 years and has since this country was formed. Why has it not passed up to this point? It has not passed because it is a bad idea. It is a bad idea, especially bad for States that are sparsely populated." (Sen. Harry Reid, Congressional Record, 3/20/95, p. S4158)

 

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV): "I'm Against The Line-Item Veto..." SEN. BYRD: "I'm against the Line-Item Veto because it would shift the power over the purse to the executive, thereby changing the structure that was created by the framers. And the whole structure is separation of powers and checks and balances. That's why I'm against the Line-Item Veto." (CNN's "Crossfire," 2/11/95)

 

• Byrd Said That The Senate Was "Making A Colossal Mistake" By Passing The Line-Item Veto. "Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., voted against the Line-Item Veto... 'The Senate is on the verge of making a colossal mistake,' Byrd said before the vote, 'a mistake we will come to regret.'" (Editorial, "Line Item," Charleston (WV) Daily Mail, 3/29/96)

"But Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Criticized The Line-Item Veto, Arguing That It Undercuts Congress' Power To Appropriate Money And Limits Lawmakers' Ability 'To Fight For Their State.'" (Elizabeth Schwinn, "Congress Hands Off Some Power," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 3/29/96)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Said That The Line-Item Veto Would Allow The President To "Blackmail Individual Members Of Congress." LEAHY: "Presidents have the power to veto if they feel there's too much spending in there. But they shouldn't have the power to go to such tiny minutiae that they end up being able to blackmail individual members of Congress." (CNN's "News," 3/9/95)

 

• Leahy: "It's A Bumper Sticker Kind Of Solution." (CNN's "News," 3/9/95)

 

Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO): "How Is A Line-Item Veto Going To Affect Anybody's Life?" (Tim Poor, "Gephardt Urges Business 'Code' To Boost U.S. Living Standard," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/2/95)