The House debated the Republican proposed Balance Budget amendment to the Constitution. And I had to listen to the nonsense for most of the day. Basically, its a bad idea because it would require ridiculous majorities in order to increase taxes. So bringing in the proper amount of revenue in order to balance the budget would be very difficult and would force huge cuts in spending. And they are trying to implement this while arguing for more tax cuts.
That's ridiculous in its own right. But even more so is the fact that Republicans believe they have to change the Constitution, that sacred document they value and claim we must strictly adhere to, in order to get the budget under control. Putting aside the merits of balancing the budget, why do they feel its necessary to amend the Constitution to do it? For most of the post war period the budget hasn't been balanced. Even during the great conservative utopia that was the Reagan administration there was a big deficit. Yet there was also decent economic growth. During the entire Bush administration there was a huge deficit which we are still dealing with. Yet they did nothing about it.
And at the end of the Clinton administration the budget was balanced. There was even a surplus for a while. And it didn't require amending the Constitution in order to do it. It just required good economic growth, higher taxes, and a Congress that acted responsibly. So what Republicans are doing by introducing this amendment is acknowledging that they don't trust themselves to act responsibly. And even though they are trying to force responsible budget making, they are doing a really crappy job of trying to force it. This thankfully won't pass the Senate. But it just continues to show how completely uninterested Republicans are in seriously governing.
That's ridiculous in its own right. But even more so is the fact that Republicans believe they have to change the Constitution, that sacred document they value and claim we must strictly adhere to, in order to get the budget under control. Putting aside the merits of balancing the budget, why do they feel its necessary to amend the Constitution to do it? For most of the post war period the budget hasn't been balanced. Even during the great conservative utopia that was the Reagan administration there was a big deficit. Yet there was also decent economic growth. During the entire Bush administration there was a huge deficit which we are still dealing with. Yet they did nothing about it.
And at the end of the Clinton administration the budget was balanced. There was even a surplus for a while. And it didn't require amending the Constitution in order to do it. It just required good economic growth, higher taxes, and a Congress that acted responsibly. So what Republicans are doing by introducing this amendment is acknowledging that they don't trust themselves to act responsibly. And even though they are trying to force responsible budget making, they are doing a really crappy job of trying to force it. This thankfully won't pass the Senate. But it just continues to show how completely uninterested Republicans are in seriously governing.
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