by Katherine Hanson and Kayte Hennick
At The Mackinack Republican Leadership Conference on September 22, 2007, Governor Mitt Romney made the following statement:
“If I am elected President, I will cap non-military discretionary spending at inflation minus one percent. If I get appropriations above that amount, I will veto them. And I like vetoes. I’ve vetoed hundreds of items already. Let’s put some fresh ink in the Presidential veto pen.”How credible is this promise? Let’s look at the context.
“If I am elected president, I will cap non-defense discretionary spending at inflation minus one percent.”
First, what is non-defense discretionary spending? Non-defense discretionary spending refers to spending set by annual appropriation levels decided by Congress (and later signed into law by the President). It includes programs like education, public highway funds, and national parks. With the growth of entitlements (i.e. social security, Medicare, Medicaid) every year, it will become increasingly difficult to find non-defense discretionary spending to cut (without running up more deficits).
Romney recently stated, “America has seen an embarrassing spike in non-defense discretionary spending” and “[capping non-defense discretionary spending at inflation minus 1 percent] would save $300 billion - $300 billion - in 10 years. And if Congress sends me a budget that exceeds that cap, I will veto that budget."
Another site provides more information about Romney’s statement. According to non-partisan watchdog FactCheck.org, what Gov. Romney is promising is literally true, but voters need more context to properly evaluate the claim. Based on interviews with Romney’s staff, FactCheck.org reports that
"Romney would make no exception for those popular programs [non-discretionary], nor would he spare law enforcement, farm aid or scientific research. The Romney campaign says he would make an exception only for "one-time spending for natural disasters and other catastrophic situations."“I like vetoes. I’ve vetoed hundreds of items already.”
Romney has made this claim a number of times and even went so far as to make a television ad to show how strongly he feels about vetoes. What he doesn’t say is that the Massachusetts legislature overturned more than 700 of Romney’s vetoes. (In Romney’s four years as Governor he issued more than 800 vetoes in total.)
Romney promises to veto, as President, any bill he believes constitutes out of control spending. In Massachusetts, the process of vetoing a bill is easier because portions of a bill can be vetoed. This is called a line item veto. The president of the United States only has two options, sign the bill or send it back to Congress.
Lessons: Mitt Romney is promising to cap non-defense discretionary spending and we have no reason to doubt his intention to do this. Romney does like vetoes and he is truthful in saying that he has vetoed hundreds of items. He doesn’t say that most of his vetoes did not stand. Romney’s voting record follows in suit with his statements. For a history of Romney’s vetoes and budget statements, click here.
