“There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress”
Mark Twain
More than a quarter century has passed since the federal government ran a surplus. This rising tide of red ink thus created has sent our national debt surging past the $4,500,000,000,000 mark. Assuming the Clinton Administration’s most optimistic forecasts, this figure will approach $6 trillion by the end of the decade.
Only in recent years has the cost of this accumulated irresponsibility, its debt service, achieved political respectability. Even with historically low interest rates, upwards to one-quarter billion (of our tax) dollars is spent just on interest annually.
Meanwhile, neither Congress nor eleven successive administrations have had the testicular fortitude to act in a fiscally responsible manner. Periodic attempts, including the once-heralded Gramn-Rudman-Hollings Act, to reign in Washington’s insatiable appetite for deficit spending have all failed miserably.
Yet, “we the people” must share in the blame. Frequently condemning Congress and their beltway cohorts for their spending habits, Americans remain unwilling to curb their addiction for more services while demanding lower taxes. And, with everyone seemingly lobbying for a different mix of government services and entitlements, a national consensus has been elusive if not impossible to attain.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, a proposed constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget has again been resurrected as a magic bullet to solve America’s fiscal dilemma, mystically transforming congressional spendthrifts into responsible stewards of our money.
Proponents argue it’s the only way to control Congress’ reckless disregard for prudent and responsible fiscal management. Without its passage, theirs is portraiture of an America irreversibly in debt, stripped of its savings and capital infrastructure, in economic ruin and social decline.
Administration and congressional opponents conjure up images of a society devastated by the program cuts such a constitutional amendment would effectively mandate. Their agenda of a larger, more paternalistic government with its ever widening spending patterns would also become a certain casualty.
Both scenarios are, unfortunately, correct.
While the apparent simplicity of a Balanced Budget Amendment makes great press, we ought to be thankful it was killed by the Senate last week. Had it passed in both Houses of Congress, it would have likely sailed through the requisite 38 states to become part of the constitution.
Then, Congress would have been faced with six options;
- Make major spending cuts, eliminating hundreds of programs in the process … infuriating at least half the public;
- Raise taxes considerably to pay for the government’s generous largess … enraging the other fifty percent;
- Make deep cuts in spending while raising taxes significantly … provoking the anger of everyone;
- Continuing to enact expensive legislation and then shifting funding burdens onto state and local governments … bankrupting the public at the local level;
- Regularly employing the conveniently embedded circumvention, permitting deficit budgets with a 3/5 vote in Congress … thus effectively maintaining the status quo; or
- Simply ignoring the amendment, as they did with Gramn-Rudman … thereby opening the door for the judiciary to dictate the nation’s spending priorities and taxing policies.
They’re all rotten choices! Promises of decreased spending and low taxes would remain an elusive fantasies. Moreover, nothing in the proposed amendment addresses retirement of the existing debt.
There is a more effective, if not more challenging answer … simple and permitted under the constitution … and doesn’t depend on politicians to pull it off.
It requires “we the people” take charge of our government. We must pare back our expectations of what government can provide and/or be willing to dramatically increase our taxes. We must prevent special interest proponents from dominating hearings on costly legislation. We must forego the “pork” being channeled back to our congressional
districts. We must also remind our congressional representatives, they work for us, and demand they run the government’s fiscal house responsibly and balance it books.
If they don’t, we must “fire” them, irrespective of their name recognition, helping obtain academy appointments for sons and daughters, or granting other personal favors. Loathing Congress while reelecting our own fiscally irresponsible Congressman/woman or Senator won’t cut it!
Our continued failure to assume such civic responsibility will provide fodder for such feel-good, but ill-advised solutions as balanced budget amendments. More terrifying is a nation, eventually raped by its own government of its private capital base, in economic and social chaos … a fertile ground for political demagoguery.
The choice is ours … the time is short!
