The House approved (247-172) Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) Line Item Veto bill. The bill, also referred to as "line-item rescission", would give the president the power to force Congress to vote on specific line items on bills sent to him by Congress. President Clinton signed (and used) a more potent version of line-item veto, but it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. House Republicans claim that this bill will help narrow the budget deficit by reining in some of the pork barrel spending which has exploded since Republicans have taken over the Executive and Legislative branches. But, the fact is giving the president this power will probably do little to stem the tide of red ink. In fact, this bill may actually increase the deficit. It’s all about blame-shifting. If Congress shifts responsibility to the president to control spending, what incentive does it have to do so when it creates spending legislations?