Taking A Scalpel to the Deficit

Could a line-item veto reduce federal spending?

At a pep rally celebrating his seventh anniversary in the White House last week, Ronald Reagan seemed determined to end his presidency with a flourish. "As they say in show biz," he urged his aides and appointees, "let's bring them to their feet with our closing act." But the State of the Union address that the President prepared to deliver this week was less a stirring aria than a medley of his greatest hits. It includes a ringing anthem to the Reagan revolution: the tax cuts -- including a call for new reduction in the rate on capital gains -- the...

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