Bush asked the Congress to give him the line-item veto in his latest radio address.   The line-item veto would allow the president to eliminate a single item in a tax or spending bill crafted by Congress.  Sound familiar?  It should.  President Clinton received it in 1996 and used it 82 times before the Supreme Court struck it down in 1998.  

In his majority opinion Justice John Paul Stevens upheld a lower court’s decision, concluding "the procedures authorized by the line-item veto act are not authorized by the Constitution."

If Congress wants to give the president that power, they will have to pass a constitutional amendment, Stevens said. "If there is to be a new procedure in which the president will play a different role in determining the text of what may become a law, such change must come not by legislation but through the amendment procedures set forth in Article V of the Constitution," Stevens said.

So what is more important here in terms of ammendments?  Gay Marriage or line-item veto?  Let’s also watch and see if it ends up at the Supreme Court again.  In the 6-3 decision, the justices opposed to the Clinton line-item veto were Stevens, Rehnquist, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, and Ginsburg.  Scalia, O’Connor, and Breyer voted for the line-item veto. 

With O’Connor and Rehnquist replacements, will the Court show partisanship?  Will the Congress give up the power to declare war as well as the power of taxation to the president?  Will George be King?  God help us all.