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Democrats, swayed by the arguments of their leaders that a balanced budget requirement would force Congress to make devastating cuts to social programs, overwhelmingly voted against it.
Just like paygo, they dont really want to live without their means and they dont mind spending our childrens money for votes.
Why didn't the MSM headlines read something like "Dems kill balanced budget"? Anytime the republicans vote down anything that's what the headlines read!
Democrats, swayed by the arguments of their leaders that a balanced budget requirement would force Congress to make devastating cuts to social programs, overwhelmingly voted against it.
Just like paygo, they dont really want to live without their means and they dont mind spending our childrens money for votes.
It is a subject with complications. Heck, people have been calling for a balanced budget amendment since the 1970s, that I am personally aware of.
I guess one problem is 'war'. Wars cost a lot of money, and during time of war we, the USA, usually have to borrow money. I guess that one reason members of Congress vote against a balanced budget amendment is to not hamstring the nation in times of emergency or war, or both.
I would think that provisions could be made in such an amendment for such contingencies. Of course, people like to keep their constitutional amendments 'short and sweet', and maybe that has hampered the effort.
The Republican Rules Committee chairman Voted Against
The Republican Rules Committee chairman said lawmakers should be able to find common ground on deficit reduction without changing the Constitution, and he expressed concern that lawsuits filed when Congress fails to balance the budget could result in courts making decisions on cutting spending or raising taxes.
............I guess one problem is 'war'. Wars cost a lot of money, and during time of war we, the USA, usually have to borrow money. I guess that one reason members of Congress vote against a balanced budget amendment is to not hamstring the nation in times of emergency or war, or both.
I would think that provisions could be made in such an amendment for such contingencies...........
If you had read the linked article in the OP you would know that those provisions had been made.
Quote:
The measure on the floor Friday, sponsored by Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., mirrors the 1995 resolution in stating that federal spending cannot exceed revenues in any one year. It would require a three-fifths majority to raise the debt ceiling or waive the balanced budget requirement in any year. But Congress would be able to let the budget go into deficit with a simple majority if there was a serious military conflict.
If the GOP really wanted a balanced budget amendment they could have passed it when they held both houses of Congress. But then W Bush would have faced an embarrassing dilemma.
mirrors the 1995 resolution in stating that federal spending cannot exceed revenues in any one year
"Steny Hoyer of Maryland, voted for the amendment in 1995 but said the situation has vastly changed since then. "Republicans have been fiscally reckless," he asserted, saying the George W. Bush administration would not cut spending elsewhere to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, major tax cuts and a Medicare prescription drug benefit."
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The Republican Rules Committee chairman Voted Against
