Line-item veto power

If President Bush is reelected, congressional Democrats would do well to give him the line-item veto power he says he wants. For all of his talk about cutting down spending, he has never been specific. A veto power would put him on the spot.

What would he cut? He doesn't want the military cuts Congress has proposed. He obviously can't reduce the interest on the national debt. He would be afraid to make deep cuts affecting the elderly, veterans, or farmers without further discrediting his claim to be the "kinder, gentler" president.

Yes, there are pork-barrel items which probably deserve to be cut. But since they were for the benefit of local and state constituencies, to cut any of them would make these constituencies blame him rather than the legislators who sponsor them. George Immerwahr, Bothell, Wash.

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