Emergency Spending

Here is an article which discusses the War-Funding bill rapidly turning into an omnibus trash heap of collective payment of campaign promises of Congressional membership to get political contributions. Bush states he will Veto the bill if it has excessive Spending associated with it in the form of Attachments, but let’s face it; he will go ahead and spend the money anyway for the conduct of the War, and any legal justification of that Expenditure which does not tie his hands will not be Vetoed. Any Time limit will force him to negotiate a removal of Troops, when he can slip out of the Presidency in 2009 without the onus of admission of failure resident in any Time limit set before his departure. He would leave it to his Successor to endure the shame of another debacle; while he can claim successful leadership in difficult times, though We know Now who engineered this Incursion.

I so not propose to dwell on this fact extensively in this Post, which I hope to sculpt as a Critique of the practice of Emergency Spending legislation. The practice evades the due consideration of proper legislation budgeting, allows advantage to pack such legislation with Pork Barrel attachments to meet campaign promises, avoids any legislative mandates to meet Budgeting restrictions, and allows Representatives and Senators to trade Votes on known unpopular legislative elements without blame to themselves. I have previously commented unfavorably on the practice of omnibus legislative bills, and Emergency Spending bills are the worst Offenders of a bad lot. What do We do about such politically malfeasant practice?

I would propose a Constitutional Amendment which specifically prohibits Emergency Spending bills in particular, and omnibus Spending bills in general. Emergency Spending needs can be canceled by a Amendment which states already allocated Funds for other purposes in the same Agency or Department may be spent to meet immediate Necessities, with Congress specifically delegated by the Amendment to replace the expended funds if desired through regular Budgeting practice. Original Contract obligations are to be averaged with new Emergency Contract allocations by this Amendment, so as Profitability of all Contracts are equalized to the degree that all Spending has been approved through the normal legislative budgeting process. The Amendment would also limit all Spending bills to 10 Budgetary items of like nature, with each Budgetary item being passed in Committee, and the total Budget Cost being passed on the floor after being Read Out in both House and Senate. All Conference bills must again go through the Process of passage by Committee in specific line-item, and general passage on the floor. The Amendment would grant the President a line-item Veto, but all line-item Vetoes must be collected as a unitary assembly for an Override Vote, if attempted, overturning such Presidential Vetoes. Such an Amendment grants the best chance of restricting Budget excesses, while getting effective legislation through the Process. lgl