Bush seeks appropriations line-item veto

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- In his first meeting of the year with his Cabinet, U.S. President George Bush asked to be given line-item veto authority for spending bills.

"One important message we all should take from the (Nov. 7) elections is that people want to end the secretive process by which Washington insiders are able to get billions of dollars directed to projects, many of them pork barrel projects that have never been reviewed or voted on by the Congress," Bush said. "To help rein in wasteful spending and restore fiscal discipline in Washington, I call on Congress to give the President the tool that 43 governors have -- a line-item veto."

One day before the 110th Congress convenes with a Democratic majority, Bush said the 5-year budget proposal he will release next month will call for continued tax cuts and better control of domestic spending and that the federal budget can be balanced by 2012, well after he leaves office.

Bush made no reference to Iraq, but in an item on the op-ed page of Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, said he would announce a new strategy in coming days.

"Ultimately, Iraqis must resolve the most pressing issues facing them. We can't do it for them," he wrote.