Giuliani and Romney Spar Over Line Item Veto

Giuliani "I cut, I think as many taxes as you possibly could during that time." He cites George Will's praise.

Romney: "We both believe in cutting back on spending. But if you want to cut taxes, you've got to cut spending. The best tool the president has had is the line item veto... Giuliani took the line item veto ... all the way to the Supreme Court... I think that was a mistake.... He also kept the commuter tax..."

Giuliani: "The difference is that under Gov. Romney, spending went up in Massachusetts per capita by 8%...in my city, it went down. Look, the line item veto was unconstitutional. I fought Bill Clinton, I beat Bill Clinton. It was unconstitutional. What the heck can you do about that if you're a strict constructionists."

Romney laughs in the middle of the answer.

Giuliani: "I led, he lagged."

Romney: "It's a good line, but it's baloney." He cites the Club for Growth's comparison. And he insists that a line item veto could be constitutional.

Giuliani: "You have to be honest... You don't get to believe about it, the Supreme Court has ruled on it. You can bang your head on the stone wall all you want. I'm in favor of a constitutional line item veto." (huh?)

Says Clinton wanted to illegally take $250M from New Yorkers and he beat Clinton, and Republicans should like to beat Clinton.