Passing the Buck: Congress, the Budget, and Deficits. By
Jasmine Farrier. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2004. 296p.
$40.00.
Has Congress, in recent years, repeatedly transferred its budgetary
powers to the president in response to huge deficits and other fiscal
challenges? Jasmine Farrier argues forcefully that it has. Looking at a
number of case studies of congressional budget reform since 1974, she
claims that Congress has delegated significant constitutional authority to
the executive branch. In particular, she examines the legislative
histories of the 1974 Budget and Impoundment Control Act, the 1985
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings),
the 1990 Budget Enforcement Act, and the 1996 Line-Item Veto Act to make
her case. Torn between constituent demands for federal funds and their
obligation to make responsible national budget policy, Farrier concludes,
members have attacked their own branch, giving away power, begging to
“stop us before we spend again.”