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Could you imagine this being done in Washington?
[Wisconsin] Gov. Jim Doyle used his veto pen Friday to carve up the Legislature’s budget-repair bill in a way that frustrated lawmakers but appeared to leave them unable to do anything about it.
Legislative leaders had pledged this week to try to override any vetoes that would allow Doyle to tap the state transportation fund. Yet on Friday, they did not appear to have the two-thirds majority required to do that, and it was not clear they would even hold a vote on the matter.
Doyle’s vetoes were the first since voters slightly limited his powers on April 1. Voters approved a constitutional change that ended the “Frankenstein veto” by saying that governors could not strike words from two or more sentences to make new sentences.
But the governor still may strike individual sentences or parts of sentences and erase individual digits and string numbers together in one sentence. On Friday, Doyle used the 2, 7 and 0 from a reference to the years 2007-’09 to order $270 million in spending cuts by July 1, 2009.
Those cuts were much deeper than the $69 million for which lawmakers called.
“We cannot address a $652 million gap with just $69 million in reductions,” Doyle said. “Through my vetoes, we will make meaningful cuts.”
#20 Keeping digging the hole.
I wonder what the 10 commandments would look like after being line item veteod.
#13, MikeN, I just reread your comment. Heh, that is a horse of a different color from simply amending a bill that is already a revenue bill. Clearly, taking some random bill and having the Senate turn it into a revenue bill is blatantly contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, and I cannot imagine that such an extreme example would not be returned by the House.
#21, vague remarks seldom offer meaningful points.
It passed, and the courts refused to throw it out.
#22–I think George Carlin did a bit getting the 10 Commandments down to 3 I think.
Be Nice, Don’t take other people’s stuff, and I forget the third.
Pro’s and Con’s to 3 simple rules vs 10 more detailed rules? Also heard there are something like 250 other commandments, not just the 10 handed down by Moses from the Mountain.
Then there is the US Code with 134,583,278 commandments, and climbing.
If he needed $652 Million – why didn’t he delete the 2,0,0 – and get a $709 Million cut – leaving a surplus???
#25, Even if this unknown bill did pass, it’s probably wise for the courts to not get involved, lest they find themselves being the new nanny for determining whether or not each provision of new revenue bills legitimately originated where they should. It’s best handled between the two houses, and obviously if it passed, the House must have concurred with the alterations.
#28–Sea Lawyer–you say “concurred with the alternations” /// or just didn’t have the votes to override the Frankenstein Vetoes.
Cracks me up. It would have never occurred to me adults could do this. Better left to the legislatures? Well, courts are there to enforce the law. Was the line item veto meant to given birth to Frankenstein? I doubt it. Here, the clear legislative intent is being violated by the executive branch. Thats just when the Courts can be used by any aggrieved party wishing to go that route?
I have the same concern now with “line item veto.” I assume a line or sentence taken out could totally change the clear intent too?
Vote all incumbents out of office.
#29, Bobbo, I don’t think we are referring to the same thing. I’m replying to MikeN’s example of the Senate taking an eraser to an entire bill sent from the House of Representatives and turning it into a tax bill. There is no veto to be overridden.
#30–Sea Lawyer==right you are. Keep your good stuff coming.
Being a Wisconsinite our roads seem to be in better shape than the fine state of Illinois, at least when compared to SE Wisconsin.
I find this whole thing humorous. The republicans in Wisconsin gave this power to the governor and then fought like hell to roll back the powers when a democrat became governor again. Foresight in politics anyone?