New Republicans to Push for Balanced Budget Amendment
Some Republican ideas are beyond comprehension. One in particular is a balanced budget amendment. Senator elect Mike Lee from Utah will push for such an amendment when he gets to Washington.
When Utah Senator-elect Mike Lee arrives in Washington, he will push for a balanced budget amendment in the Senate, …
“The majority of states in this country balance their budgets every year,” Lee is quoted as saying in a BBAN press release. “Requiring Congress to do the same simply requires self-restraint, fiscal discipline, forethought and a commitment to follow both the roles and restraints outlined in the Constitution.”
http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/09/balance-budget-amendment-to-be-pushed-in-new-congress/
This Mike Lee guy is clueless and this statement is proof that he is an incompetent not qualified to serve in the Senate. Obviously, his Republican audience is as clueless as he is. Forcing a Federal balanced budget sounds like common sense when you say it, but in real life it can’t be allowed. Common sense solutions (think Sarah Palin here) served up by uninformed well intentioned fools will not lead to better government, only to a dysfunctional Congress.
States can have forced balanced budgets since the federal government will provide armies for them when the wars break out, or supply them with emergency aid during hard times (like now for instance). The federal government can only do this if it is not locked into a balanced budget. The government cannot defend the states if it doesn’t have the ability to raise the money to do so even if it means deficit spending.
So you see there will never be a balanced budget amendment passed by congress. Mike Lee should know this. He probably does but advocates for it anyway. If such a bill came up for a vote not one Republican would vote for it, not even Mike Lee. Why, because you would have to raise taxes to do it. Spending cuts alone wouldn’t get you there. It’s not a matter of fiscal discipline and self restraint; it requires a commitment to pay for the bills you ran up.
To balance the budget by spending cuts alone would require cuts so massive that they would crash the government, the economy, and cause dire harm to innocent Americans. It would cause pure chaos and disaster. I’m starting to believe that’s what Mike Lee and this new Republican majority in the House wants. Only under the cover of chaos can they pass the reforms they cherish so much.
We had a balanced budget ten years ago. The unfunded Bush tax cuts are the cause of most of our debt woes. Let them expire and our situation immediately looks a lot better. But Mike Lee would rather see the country brought down than give in on those tax cuts. I guess that makes him a freedom fighter. More likely he’s just a fool.
The new Republican congress is making promises than can’t keep. Moreover they wouldn’t vote for the reforms they are pushing. They are lying. Nothing is going to change because Mike Lee is in the Senate. We will continue to decline while the Congress sits on its hands, watches, and does nothing. I think we are in big trouble.
