WASHINGTON
—
Ed Lorenzen, Policy Director of The Concord Coalition, testified
today before the House Budget Committee in support of proposals to grant the
President modified line item veto authority while noting that it will not have a
significant impact on the deficit.
WASHINGTON
—
Ed Lorenzen, Policy Director of The Concord Coalition, testified
today before the House Budget Committee in support of proposals to grant the
President modified line item veto authority while noting that it will not have a
significant impact on the deficit.
“Enactment of modified line item veto authority will take a
step toward reducing the public cynicism about the political process and send a
signal to the public that politicians in Washington are willing to set aside
narrow parochial interests and make hard choices for the common good. Restoring
public confidence in the budget process is an important step in gaining the
support that will be necessary to make the difficult choices required to address
our fiscal challenges.”
In his testimony,
Lorenzen expressed Concord’s strong support for the decision to apply modified
line item veto to special interest tax breaks as well as spending and provisions
ensuring that the savings from the modified line item veto would be dedicated to
deficit reduction.
While expressing Concord’s support for the modified line
item veto, Lorenzen cautioned that it is not likely to have a significant impact
on budgetary outcomes. “The spending and tax items that would be affected by
these provisions represents a relatively small portion of the budget. Simply
cracking down on everyone’s favorite target of ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ is not
enough to get the job done.”
Lorenzen reiterated Concord’s support forpay-as-you-go
budget enforcement rules for all tax and spending legislation that would
increase the deficit, noting that “The legislative actions which have the
greatest impact on the deficit are expansions of entitlement programs or tax
cuts that go well beyond the scope of this legislation.”
“The proposed modified
line item veto and similar proposals would not remotely begin to address the
magnitude of our fiscal challenges,” Lorenzen said in the conclusion of his
testimony.
“However, granting the President modified line item veto authority could be a
useful tool in improving the accountability of the budget process and achieving
greater public confidence in the budget process that will be necessary to make
the tough choices on much larger fiscal issues.”
The Concord Coalition is a nonpartisan, grass roots
organization dedicated to balanced federal budgets and generationally
responsible fiscal policy.
The full text of Lorenzen’s
testimony
can be found at:
http://www.concordcoalition.org/edward-lorenzen-testimony
###
CONTACT:
Tristan Cohen
(703) 894-6222
[email protected]
