So who keeps a check on Congress? Why, none other than us. Voters. The American people. You know, the folks mentioned in the first three words of the Constitution.

My understanding is deep enough to be correct. Unlike you, I know when to stop digging.

You can go back and say “but the founders talked about doing it other ways before that” and that’s fine as an academic exercise, but it’s irrelevant to what the President can do right now or in 2012. The simple fact is that Congress sets the budget and that’s what the budget is.

The only kind of bill that threatens the President when it overrides a veto is one that diminishes his power. If a bill enhances his power against his will instead, he can just twiddle his thumbs. And Congress can threaten him with impeachment or wait for a successor who WILL exercise the new power.

I am guessing you have never read Madison's notes on the Philadelphia Convention, I think you're already out of your league. Just do that first and we'll continue this. The executive was formulated well before any brainstorming of a "council of revision" or, in later days, a veto power.

FYI, the veto did not come "after the fact". It was part of the Constitution as ratified and was first used by George Washington just a couple years after ratification. And yes, the separation of powers is one of the reasons a veto exists.