Article I Section 7 Clauses 1-3

[1] All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.

[2] Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

[3] Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

If there is one thing our government does well (or poorly depending on how you look at it) is spend money. And when it comes to raising or spending money it all starts in the House. The Senate can offer changes, and must ultimately approve of the bills before they go to the president, but its the House that gets the ball rolling.

If the president signs the bill then it becomes law. If he waits for ten days not including Sunday the bill also becomes law, except during the last few days of a congressional session. During this period the president can use the “pocket veto.” Basically the President just has to sit on his/her ass and the bill gets vetoed. This is a sneaky tactic. When the president vetoes a bill with objections it goes back to congress a 2/3 majority vote in the House and Senate can override the veto. However during the end of the session the ten day period may overlap into the time when the congress is not in session. The president is able to “put the bill in there pocket” until Congress adjourns is thus called a pocket veto. Since Congress cannot vote while in adjournment, a pocket veto cannot be overridden.

The pocket veto is almost as popular as the normal veto.

regular vetoes 1485
pocket vetoes 1066
total vetoes 2551
overwritten 106

Congress can also take the vetoed bill and change it to make it more acceptable to the president. For political reasons this sort of thing goes on all the time (or usually does Bush has been very bad at this). The threat of presidential veto and congressional override is supposed to prevent the rampant passing of laws that any one branch of government wants passed. Current lack of this check and balance system has lead to the president dictating what laws will be passed, and the congress rubber stamping everything. With the recent shift in party majority to the Democratic party this should change.

George Washingtons first veto to the congress read.

United States [Philadelphia] April 5 1792.

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives

I have maturely considered the Act passed by the two Houses, intitled, “An Act for an apportionment of Representatives among the several States according to the first enumeration,” and I return it to your House, wherein it originated, with the following objections.

First—The Constitution has prescribed that representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers: and there is no one proportion or divisor which, applied to the respective numbers of the States will yield the number and allotment of representatives proposed by the Bill.

Second—The Constitution has also provided that the number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand; which restriction is, by the context, and by fair and obvious construction, to be applied to the seperate and respective numbers of the States: and the bill has allotted to eight of the States, more than one for thirty thousand.

George Washington.