Giving The President The Power, Making Lawmakers Accountable

This week, when the House is focused on fiscal restraint and responsibility, the time is ripe to consider legislation to rein in government spending. Year by year, the amount of pork-barrel spending by the federal government is increasing. According to Citizens against Government Waste, the federal government spent $29 billion on 9,963 pork-barrel projects in Fiscal Year 2006, an increase of 6.3% from 2005, and an increase of over 900% since 1991.One way to reduce reckless spending provisions is with a presidential line item veto. I have co-sponsored the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) because I firmly believe that it will hold lawmakers accountable for the spending proposals they introduce. Accountability and transparency of pork projects are crucial to successful spending reform, and the American people have a right to know where their hard-earned dollars are being spent.When Congress begins to expose pork projects for what they truly are, the problem of pork will take care if itself.