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A Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment Threatens Great Economic Damage
Raises Host of Problems for Social Security and Other Key Federal Functions
July 27, 2011
|by Robert Greenstein and Richard Kogan….By requiring a balanced budget every year, no matter the state of the economy, such an amendment would raise serious risks of tipping weak economies into recession and making recessions longer and deeper, causing very large job losses. That’s because the amendment would force policymakers to cut spending, raise taxes, or both just when the economy is weak or already in recession — the exact opposite of what good economic policy would advise….
Today, via Twitter, from Jason Kander (D):
Jason Kander@JasonKander
A Balanced Budget Amendment will ensure Congress spends responsibly & we don’t burden our children with debt. #mosen
1:56 PM – 23 Jun 2016
Well, that can’t be walked back unless they can prove Roy Blunt’s (r) campaign hacked their account.
Ensure Congress spends responsibly? Uh, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that the job of the voters every two years? Just asking.
Oh, great:
Jason Kander Breaks with Party and Announces Support for Balanced Budget Amendment
So … Blunt is corrupt and Kander is stupid (or, based on conversations with Claire McCaskill, thinks Missourians are). Why do we get the same ol’, same ol’ again and again here in Missouri? Don’t we deserve some of the good things Democrats elsewhere get?
We do seem to be pretty stupid (Vicky, Billy, Blaine…).
It laid an egg over on his Facebook page, too:
“[….]…the bugaboo of “balance the budget” is code for cutting social programs.”
“[….] This is bad. Do you know what Republicans do with balanced budgets requirements? Cut programs–and it’s always poor people who suffer first. Get off of this and onto something more critical. We can have fiscal responsibility without a balanced budget amendment. You know that running a government isn’t like running a household.”
“[….] A balanced budget amendment is not needed if Congress does its job and matches revenue to spending. President Clinton working with a Republican controlled Congress balanced the budget. President G. Bush’s ideological driven tax cuts coupled with pandering through spending and political cowardice to fund wars in Afghanistan and Iraq led to the current deficits. The Recession and even more spending led to further growth in the national debt. The Constitution isn’t the problem. Politicians are the problem.”
Way to go Kander. Give the seat back to Blunt.
Efforts to be “moderate” and “centrist” are no excuse for bad policy.
Brookings Institute’s Five reasons why a Federal balanced Budget amendment is a bad idea: http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brookings-now/posts/2014/07/5-reasons-why-a-federal-balanced-budget-amendment-is-a-bad-idea
See also Forbe on why BBA is “lunacy”: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntharvey/2015/08/10/five-reasons-balanced-budget-is-lunacy/3/#7bcf554914f8