Show ii I NOT N Nt t EEK I I By George A. A Benson Washington D D. C. C Funny thing about President Truman Well VeIl perhaps not so funny at that You see hes he's been raised in the New Deal which believes the President is the government What am I driving at His two big vetoes First of the I tax reduction bill and then of the Taft-Hartley Taft labor bill Sure Congress sustained him on the tax bill but not on the other That doesn't alter thins things I i Fact is in each instance Mr Truman set himself up as superior to Congress Told the peoples people's representatives his judgment judgment judgment judg judg- ment was far better than theirs Said in effect that he he was a sounder judge of what the people wanted and needed than Con Con- gress Sure I know the Constitution gives him the right to veto legislation Been reading a lot about that lately in in the Federalist and Madison's notes on the Constitution In Jefferson too Fact is the veto is a qualified right intended to preserve the checks and balances in our government It is intended to prevent prevent pre preM vent any encroachment by Congress upon the rights of the Pres Pres- Pres-I Pres ident Also to protect the public against gross and palpable wrong The the bill two-to-one two and House passed tax by a majority the Senate lacked only one vote of giving it the same margin The I labor bill was passed by a majority of each party four to one in inthe inthe inthe the House three to one in the Senate It could be Argued that here was the public speaking peaking and speaking in unmistakable terms Now what does Mr Truman do He ignores all this and says Congress didn't know what it was doing He might read Jefferson who said a just dust respect for the wisdom of the legislature legislature legislature legisla legisla- ture would naturally decide a balance in favor of their opinion This was vas the philosophy of all our early Presidents They didn't regard the veto as a political weapon Mr Truman sets his his his' judgment up against that of Congress Look at it another way It requires just a simple majority majori of each house to pass a bill Mr Truman apparently thinks he can require many more than that All he has to do when he doesn't like a bill is to veto it Then it must repass each house by ay a two-thirds two majority 15 more votes in the Senate than a simple majority and 72 in the House Some people feel that's government by men not by laws |