Cutting Pork and Giving Bush Power

[Annie]

http://ww2.scripps.com/cgi-bin/archives/denver.pl?DBLIST=rm05&DOCNUM=22204

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

UDALL CALLS FOR BUDGET AX
BILL WOULD GIVE BUSH NEW POWER TO PARE SPENDING MEASURES

Date: Friday, September 30, 2005

Section: News

Page: 6A

Illustration: Photo

Source: By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News

Dateline: WASHINGTON

Edition: Final

Rep. Mark Udall has joined Republican budget hawks on legislation that would give the White House new authority to pare congressional spending bills.

His measure is meant to make up for the massive federal effort to repair damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to reduce what Udall considers to be wasteful spending.

Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat, won some unusual allies - including Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Fort Morgan - on Thursday, when he introduced the measure.

It would authorize the president to pull specific items out of massive appropriations bills and then force Congress to hold up-or-down votes on the proposed cuts. It would apply to fiscal year 2006 spending bills, plus the huge, multiyear transportation plan that critics have said is loaded with wasteful, pork barrel projects.

"It's essential for us to respond to the devastation brought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But as we do, we should consider and respond to the fiscal and economic risks we have been running," Udall said during a speech to the House of Representatives.

"I think there's an urgent need for both the administration and Congress to face hard reality and not continue with budget policies based on . . . defying the laws of fiscal gravity."

The concept of the bill is not entirely new. Some lawmakers have long sought to give presidents a line-item veto power so they can strip away wasteful projects while still approving larger pieces of legislation. Congress passed such a law, but courts said it violated the legislative branch's constitutional right to control the government purse strings.

Currently, President Bush has the right to propose cutting government spending that Congress has already approved. But lawmakers can pick and choose among his suggestions or not act on any of them. Udall's bill would make votes on each of the president's proposed cuts mandatory. Udall's predecessor, former congressman David Skaggs, proposed a similar concept in the early 1990s.

Similar provisions are a part of a more comprehensive bill, the "Family Budget Protection Act," proposed by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R- Texas.

For his bill, Udall has joined forces with Republican Reps. Steve Chabot of Ohio, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and other members of the Republican Study Committee. That caucus recently has focused on finding budget cuts to make up for the estimated $200 billion hurricane relief efforts and other projected deficit spending.

Thursday night, Musgrave signed on as a co-sponsor of the Udall bill.

"I think this is a great idea," she said. "Our president doesn't have the line-item veto. This looks to me like a tool for our president to start slicing some pork."

Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colorado Springs, was still reviewing the bill and considering whether to co-sponsor it, spokeswoman Kim Sears said. Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Arvada, has co-sponsored the Hensarling bill and supports the approach Udall outlined, spokesman Jordan Stoick said.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, doubted Udall's bill would make a difference, saying the law already provides a process for the president to "impound," or refuse to spend money on items Congress has approved.

"With hurricane relief adding to our budget deficit, I'm open to almost any spending cut that (has) been proposed, and I'm encouraged that at least some Democrats are coming around on fiscal responsibility," Tancredo said in a statement. "But how would Udall's bill change anything that we're doing now?"

Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, and John Salazar, D-Manassa, were unavailable for comment Thursday.

The legislation is just the latest action crossing traditional party lines by Udall, who is considering a race for the U.S. Senate in 2008.

Last week, he endorsed Judge John Roberts' nomination to be chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He also teamed with Republicans on legislation protecting a state's right to give its own residents preference in hunting licenses. And he has sparred with peace activists in his Boulder-centered district by refusing to call for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Even with some Republican support, Udall said he knows his new bill faces long odds. "It's a long shot, but a lot of long shots end up finishing first or second," Udall said.