Boehner Calls on Senate Democrats to Vote on Line Item Veto

Via email:

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement as Senate Democrat leaders continue to refuse to allow a vote on the line item veto amendment proposed by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH):

"The American people want their leaders in Congress to spend their tax dollars wisely, and the line item veto is another critical tool that will help bring greater transparency, accountability, and common-sense spending restraint to the federal budget process.

"If Senate Democrats are serious about fiscal responsibility and reform, they should allow the full Senate to vote on the Gregg amendment. It's ironic that Senate Democrat leaders would be willing to block critical ethics and earmark reforms simply because they don't want to vote on the line item veto. The American people deserve a vote on this important issue, and if the Senate acts it will encourage House Democrats to do the same."

Last year, 35 House Democrats joined Republicans in passing the Legislative Line Item Veto Act (H.R. 4890), which was sponsored by Budget Committee Ranking Republican Paul Ryan (R-WI).

This has zero chance of being passed because the political class can't think ahead to any other time than "right now" and right now is too partisan of a time for smart legislation like a line item veto to get passed. And I'll further ask why this wasn't more of a priority in the last Congres; when, you know, Republicans had a majority...