Line-Item Veto
Re “House Passes Bill Giving President a Line-Item Veto,” March 29: You quote Rep. David E. Skaggs (D-Colo.) as referring to the line-item veto as a “usurpation of power.”
Constitutionally, Rep. Skaggs’ comment makes no sense. Obviously the founders wanted the president to have the power to veto legislation. In fact it has been the Congress that has functionally usurped the president’s veto power by playing politics and including so many diverse, unrelated laws into a single act which puts the president in a lose-lose situation whenever he desires to veto a bill.
It just goes to demonstrate that no law will ever obstruct the human capacity for connivance.
MITCHELL E. HARRIS
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