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Do House Republicans Understand the
Concept of Separation of Powers?
House of Representatives - June 20, 2006

Mr. Speaker, "Comedy Central" and "The Daily Show" have come to the floor of the House. The House Republicans have thrown up their hands and said, save us from ourselves. They are going to come out here with the line item veto.

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Now, every single item that goes out of this House has been through a committee chaired by a Republican with a Republican majority on that committee. No single item has gotten out of here that they have not had their look at. They want to slip it into the bill and then send it to the President and run down there to the White House and say, "Please, Mr. President, save us from ourselves. We can't stop ourselves. We have to keep spending money."

This is the most ridiculous piece of legislation you have come up with in this session. There is no excuse for it whatsoever. If you can't stop yourselves in the committee, and you can't stop yourselves on the floor, why would you have to call the President?

Do you understand the separation of powers? We are the ones who decide how the money gets spent, not the President. It is your responsibility that you have spent away the surplus into the biggest deficit in history. Shame on you.