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Thursday, February 07, 2008
Budget Reform Proposals-in-Wonderland
Once again this year, the president's budget includes a set of budget reform proposals, not substantially changed from the proposals put forth in the same space in years past (evaluated here). Among the highlights:
- Joint Budget Resolution: The President's budget advocates a joint budget resolution requiring the President's signature. Of course, this would give the Budget Resolution the force of law, meaning that Congress would effectively set the level of appropriations bills.
- Line-Item Veto: George Will has the last word...
The word "veto" is not in the Constitution. It says "every bill" passed by both houses of Congress must be "presented" to the president, who must sign "it" or return "it" to Congress. The antecedent of the pronoun is the entire bill, not bits of it. As President George Washington understood: "I must approve all the parts of a bill, or reject it in toto."
- One-Way PAYGO: Any increase in the cost of entitlement programs, such as Medicaid, Medicare, or Food Stamps, would have to be paid for by cuts in other services. The rules would prohibit financing improvements in these programs by raising revenue—for example, by closing tax
loopholes; meanwhile, the cost of new tax cuts would not have to be paid for
- Selective Sequestration: Discretionary spending levels would be frozen at the levels
proposed in the FY09 budget, resulting in real cuts in spending in the outyears; legislation enacted that exceeds this cap, would trigger a "sequester," or an automatic reduction, in non-exempt discretionary programs
Don't expect any of these proposals to go anywhere. The administration made only token efforts to lobby for them in Congress over the years, even when Republicans ruled the roost there.
Posted by Dana Chasin
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