Bush, having to confront a (hopefully) hostile congress, suddenly thinks he can control spending.  How?  He wants line-item veto power:

In a White House statement and Wall Street Journal opinion piece a day before the Democrat-controlled Congress is seated, the president asked lawmakers to give the White House line-item veto power to control spending. […]

Line-item veto power would be a key tool in entitlement reform, Bush said, because money that could be used there is now wasted in a “secretive process” that often doesn’t ever face a vote in Congress.

Well whaddayaknow?  A first chance for the Democrats to show him they mean business.  Bush is being openly hypocritical here, considering all the garbage he passed the last 6 years.  As president, a proper use of prickishness — “you guys went a billion over budget, therefore I’m gonna wipe my ass with this spending bill” — can encourage discipline in congress; forcing them to seriously bicker over congressman so’n’so’s vanity project or congresswoman whatshername’s targeted break to her pals just to override a veto on a routine bill once in awhile can humble ‘em good.  He had 6 years to do that and didn’t, now he wants the power to cross things out of bills — more than likely he’d abuse it.

So, what’s the first response?

[I]ncoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said the line-item veto puts too much power in the hands of the president […]

Looks good so far, keep going…

[…] and cuts the ability of congressmen to deliver for their constituents.

…Que?

“Every president would like to say to the Congress only the president can add to the investments in communities so that Congress would have to come hat in hand to the president to ask for investment” in their home districts, Hoyer said. (emphasis mine)

Dear vishnu, no…

Here’s a tip: when you hear a politician say “investment”, they mean a handout to their friends.  Also, when they say “deliver to constituents”, they mean keep the pork rolling.  Not a good sign.