News and Political links



Government Watchdogs

Media Watchdogs

United States Submarine Service Links

On the Lighter Side

 


The Balanced Budget Amendment Redux

by Donald A. Tevault

People go for ideas and slogans that sound cool, and don't take the time to research them to see if they're really wise. Proposed Balanced Budget Amendments--from henceforth referred to as "BBAs"--have generally had provisions that would allow Congress to raise taxes with a 2/3 majority vote. I could foresee that a BBA would always trigger tax increases by a Congress and a President who are unable to cut spending.

Also, we already have a BBA of sorts. It's called the "Tenth Amendment". The U.S. Constitution has a detailed list of functions that the federal government is allowed to perform, and the Tenth Amendment forbids the federal government from doing anything that is not in that list. However, our elected rep. . .er, masters, routinely ignore the Tenth Amendment. So, we now have a gargantuan, all-powerful federal government that does whatever the hell it wants. If we were to get a BBA, either one of two things would happen. If Congress and the President were to find it politically impossible to raise taxes, then they would simply ignore the BBA, just as they now ignore the Tenth Amendment.

And then, there's the Federal Reserve. . .

The owners of the Federal Reserve make much, much money off of both lending to the federal government, and off of the inflation that they cause. There are some powerful people connected with the Federal Reserve, and there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that they would ever allow a meaningful BBA to become law.

The real answer to the problem is . . .

  • First, we need to educate voters on the proper Constitutional role of the federal government. We need to emphasize how much better life would be for them if the federal government were still bound down by the chains of the Constitution. But alas, even many Tea Party folk--who claim to want smaller government--get offended if one of their pet programs gets cut.
  • Second, we need to elect representatives who respect and understand the concepts of liberty and Constitutionally-limited government. These people need to understand that not only do we need to quit increasing the size of government, we need to cut it back by shutting down agencies and departments that are not part of the Constitutionally-mandated role of government.
  • Third, we need to once-and-for-all put an end to the monster that we affectionately know as the "Federal Reserve".

A BBA would do nothing good, and might even do more harm. The proposed BBAs I've seen would justify the high level of spending we currently have, which is something we absolutely don't need. Any talk of enacting a BBA is a waste of time that only distracts us from the real problems.



See also:

Back to the Home Page

  © 2011 Truth In News Press