John Kerry on Meeting with Bush on Line-Item Veto Proposal

John Kerry and members of Congress met with Bush this morning to discuss the line-item veto. Acknowledging that Kerry on the campaign trail in '04, said "he supported a line-item veto," Bush actually said "I'm proud you're here, Senator." (that had to have been painful for Bush to utter) John Kerry had previously proposed a constitutional line-item veto that would allow the President to reduce pork barrel spending and save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Kerry has introduced and co-sponsored legislation in the Senate that will give President Bush the line-item veto and vowed to "hold the President’s feet to the fire" on this issue. Under Kerry’s plan, the president would identify wasteful items in spending and tax legislation and submit it to Congress to act on in an up-or-down vote. A PDF copy of the legislation is available here.

Below is a statement from John Kerry on a meeting with President Bush today on the line-item veto:

“It will take a serious effort to reign in the runaway spending in Washington, and I’m glad we are working across partisan lines to take this first step forward. What’s happened in this city is an insult to American taxpayers. We’re facing the largest deficit in American history. Pork barrel spending has gone through the roof. Last year, there were 14,000 Congressional earmarks costing more than $27 billion. There’s blame enough to go around, but the spending spree has to stop. Nearly $30 billion a year is being spent on projects that have never even been debated – ridiculous projects like research on the flavor of roasted peanuts and the infamous ‘bridge to nowhere.’

“It’s no secret that President Bush and I have our differences, but I fully support giving him the line-item veto and I will work to get the Senate to pass it into law. I want to see the incomprehensible waste coming out of this Congress vetoed, and I want to see Congress held accountable for the wasting of taxpayer dollars.”