President Trump has been criticized for passing a larded-up budget, but it's not that simple to get a balanced budget. One way is with the line-item veto, but to achieve this will take some careful strategizing. Here is how it works: A presidential line-item veto requires an amendment to the Constitution, which Congress will never propose.  Passing such a law would take a two-thirds vote in both House and Senate, and it’s far beyond reach.  What is within reach is proposing a line-item veto amendment through the constitutional alternative  --  through the states, using Article V of the Constitution.  Twenty-eight states have passed resolutions calling for an Amendment Convention to propose a balanced budget amendment.   The line-item veto is simply one method of achieving it.  All 28 resolutions specifically authorize that the amendment may include “… appropriate fiscal restraints”  as a means of balancing...(Read Full Post)