In support of a Balanced Budget Amendment
to control and reduce America's national debt.
Following are UpQuick edited excerpts from a July 2011 USA Today article:
To control debt, we need to pass the Balanced Budget Amendment: Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.,
House majority leader and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the R. Study Committee.
Our Constitution has endured the passage of time with remarkably few changes, being amended only 27 times in 223 years. America's debt limit has not been so stable. Since World War II, Congress has increased the limit on the national debt 69 times. And we are now faced with out-of-control endless spending and increasing of the debt limit.
President Reagan once observed that: "a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth." Once created, government programs build constituencies of special interests that are driven to keep money flowing to them, regardless of whether any given program or agency is doing any good. Republicans in Congress have placed many such programs on the chopping block over and over, only to see pressure from Democrats and the spending lobby defeat those efforts.
While the federal government has consistently collected revenue of about 18% of U.S. economic output, federal spending has consistently been higher. The debt resulting from these budget deficits builds up until the debt limit is reached. Then, rather than fight the spending lobby, politicians have taken the easy route of just raising the limit without cutting spending.
For the survival of our country, it is imperative to rein in spending and this debt.
Constitutional amendments require the support of two-thirds of the House and the Senate and then three-fourths of the states. Because of these requirements, successful amendments tend to stay in place. Only one, prohibition, has ever been repealed. Anyone who hopes to rein in our country's stifling debt and force Washington to live within its means should support amending the Constitution to require a balanced budget.
The national debt has grown into a malignant cancer on our economy. Attacking this cancer at its root means cutting spending. If we fail to do that, the U.S. will unavoidably face a job-killing debt crisis very soon.
Near-term spending cuts are essential to alter the course, but they will not be enough without long-term changes. Promises of cuts 10 years from now mean almost nothing without a way to enforce them. And the only way to guarantee putting a stop to politicians ever-increasing spending will be if the Constitution requires it. That is why the Republican controlled house of representatives is going to vote on a balanced budget amendment that would then require supermajorities in both chambers to run a deficit, raise the debt ceiling, raise taxes, and spend more than 18% of GDP.
The balanced budget movement is gaining momentum. Members of the spending lobby do not want that because it would finally put a stop to out-of-control spending.
Every American citizen, man, woman, and child is now $46,000 in debt because of the current national debt.
This massive borrowing is taking a terrible toll on our economy. Businesses cannot survive and grow and higher more workers if taxes are raised and inflation and and the cost of borrowing dramatically increase due to the impending debt crisis.
Only by cutting spending and balancing the budget, we America put an end to fears about the mess that out-of-control spending has caused and put the job-creating private sector back on offense.
Passage of the Balanced Budget Amendment will put a stop to reckless borrowing and ensure that our children enjoy futures full of opportunity.
Obama opposes a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Republicans getting a balanced budget amendment is essential to any kind of deal on the nation's debt ceiling.
Instead, he wants to increase the government's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling without significant spending cuts. He claims that reducing future debt, "is not a constitutional issue."
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. said he will work against any debt deal that doesn't include a balanced budget amendment to avoid running up still more debt in the future. DeMint also noted that it would be years before a balanced budget amendment could take effect. It would take states two or three years to ratify, and after that, five more years before it would be implemented. So there would still be plenty of time to do what is needed to save Social Security and Medicare and fix our tax code.
Seeking a Balanced Budget Amendment is simply a matter of giving the American people and the states a chance to decide if the federal government should, once and for all, bring spending and our budget into balance.
Regrettably, and shockingly, McCain is not willing to join those who want to hold the line by insisting on an agreement to pass a balanced budget amendment.