Something miraculous happened early last November. The White House found its long-lost veto pen. Whether it was stuck in the Oval Office couch cushions, had fallen behind the desk or was taken by the Clintonistas when they left, it was missing in action for six years. (Now to be fair, the veto pen made a cameo appearance last year to break the infamous veto-less streak, and then quickly went back into hiding. And the veto wasn’t even on a spending bill.)

Wow, but what a change! In the bare three months that the 110th Congress has been seated, the President has issued 13 veto threats on 11 bills (the House and Senate versions of the emergency supplemental spending bills each got both barrels of the veto gun). We have been calling for the President to break out of his veto-less slump for years (See “Just Say Veto” and “Break the Veto Streak”). But the problem now is that the cow has left the barn. It’s a Democratic Congress; he’s a lame duck; and he has let Congress run roughshod fiscally over him for the last six years. It’s going to take a lot more effort to reign in the big-spenders. If a veto threat is used, and Congress ignores it, will anyone listen?

In fact the argument can be made that if the President had vetoed a little more and exhibited some tough love with Congress, the Republicans might still have the majority in at least one chamber.

Look at the track record. Bloated 2002 Farm bill – no veto. Budget-busting 2003 Medicare Prescription drug benefit – no veto. Giveaway 2004 Corporate tax bill – no veto. Pork-stuffed 2005 Transportation bill – no veto. More than 12,000 earmarks in the 2006 spending bills – no veto. So the President has very little credibility on the subject.

While it will certainly be too little, and may be too late, now is the time to take a stand, Mr. President. To paraphrase a Chinese proverb about planting trees, the best time to veto a wasteful spending bill is several years ago, the second best time is now. Stick to your veto threat guns on the non-emergency spending in the Emergency Supplemental. Force Congress to make the case to the American public that we should be spending $100 million on political conventions 18 months from now, that we should be sending millions to peanut and spinach farms in a bill meant for the war and Katrina.

There’s a good lesson here for the 44th President. Do what you say and say what you mean. Even if your party controls Congress, going along to get along is not good enough. You can’t just rattle your anti-wasteful spending saber, you occasionally have to take it out of the scabbard and swing it at a piece of legislation. The Founding Fathers put that tool in the Constitution for a reason. And like all tools, you should use it wisely, but most of all, you should use it.

For more information, contact Steve Ellis at (202)-546-8500 ext. 126 or steve [at] taxpayer.net