I don't think this is what Obama was talking about, Dave. The line item veto would be used for all new legislation passing across his desk.
What Obama was talking about was existing programs ... eliminating the inefficient and outdated ones and proposing new programs that make sense.
A good start, for example, would be to abolish the Department of Education. Ha ... fat chance!
Vi
I have seen enough of your posts to know that you are very committed to getting rid of public education. I empathize with your chagrin over the deplorable conditions in many of our public schools, but honestly, what is your alternative? I'd really like to hear you out on this.
I'm also asking this as someone who was educated in private schools. When I got to college, I was astounded by what my peers did not already know, how uneducated they were. But I also realize that much of that has to do with locale (ie, what state, and within those states, which counties) as well as the educational environment one finds oneself in. I can tell you that my children have been schooled in public schools, and they're pretty well educated people. My son, for example, is a heavy duty history buff. He seems to know more about teh Civil War than anyone I personally know. Probably a lot of that has come from his parents buying so many books for him--whatever he was interested in at the time, we got it for him. But a lot of it also has to do with living in a fairly affluent area with a decent school system.
Still, we're really hoping to send him away to a private school next year. In a way, I can't stand the "elitist" feel of it, this boarding prep school, but then again, I want him to be very well educated. I think he'll get that with the school we've chosen.
But not everyone can afford that (and in this case, it's not even me who is "affording it). So? What to do about everyone else. I take it since this is a real bone of contention with you, that your solution is not that a good chunk of the population would remain uneducated (ooooh, memories of the book What's The Matter With Kansas). So, what do you envision, in a perfect Vi world, in which you get everything you want or think is best? I honestly want to hear you out on this? Education is super, super, uber important to me.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Honestly, I don't know where Med gets his ideas on economics, but he is so wrong that his posts aren't worthy of a response. 
