An American Promise
● A Balanced-Budget Amendment to the Constitution, with appropriate exceptions for times of war and recession.
● A line-item veto, to give the President a fighting chance to eliminate pork and earmarks.
● A limitation on federal spending, to 20% of GDP.-
*** About We Elected You ***
Have Your Say!
- John Lumbard on Problems With a Balanced Budget Amendment?
- Chris Curley on Problems With a Balanced Budget Amendment?
- John Lumbard on How to Fix the Health Care Mess
- Did Government Agencies “Raid” Social Security “Coffers”? « Joejolly’s Weblog on “The Debt The Government Owes Itself For Raiding Social Security”
- John Lumbard on The Antidote
- Gen Y on The Keepers of the Flame
- Chuck Bailey on Amendment Filed. Call Your Congressman!
- Phoebe Addington on Party On!
- FaGaurlwal on Incentives Rule!
- James Schaefer on The ENTIRE Government Runs on Borrowed Money
Topics
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Americans For A Balanced Budget Amendment
Alan Parks is the founder of Americans For A Balanced Budget Amendment (http://www.balanceourbudget.com/), which collects signatures and builds support for the constitutional amendment that came within one vote of passing the Congress back in the mid 1990s. It can be done.
Alan tells us that he commissioned a survey, with dollars from his own pocket,...
Read More Great Government and the Roots of Rebellion
By John Lumbard.
USA Today just published an opinion piece arguing that voters are concerned about the power wielded by large corporations; but unwilling to embrace the federal government as a benevolent regulator. That distrust is founded in a recognition that our government is larger than all of our 100 largest corporations put together---a fearsome size---and that it has...
Read More Sustainable Government
By James Schaefer.
In a recent Opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal (Tax Aversion Syndrome and Our Deficit Future), Peter G. Peterson writes about Congressional Budget Office projections that show the public debt rising from its current 60% of GDP to 233% in 30 years, and 500% in 50...
Read More Democrats Favoring a Balanced-Budget Amendment
By John Lumbard.
In March of this year, 41 House Democrats sponsored House Joint Resolution 78, Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Consititution of the United States.
Sponsor Rep. Bobby Bright (D, AL). Co-sponsors Jason Altmire (D, Pennsylvania-4), John Barrow (D, GA-12), Robert Berry (D, AR-1), Sanford Bishop (D, GA-2), Dan Boren...
Read More Facts, Fiction, and Fiscal Responsibility
Today the Boston Globe published an opinion piece which argued that readers are rarely willing to alter their opinions when they are presented with contrary facts. We offered a comment suggesting that this is very much true of the Medicare debate---not one American in a thousand knows how large the future...
Read More Candidates Calling for a Balanced-Budget Amendment
Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota: http://www.timpawlenty.com/balancedbudget. If you sign the petition you WILL be given an opportunity to decline fund-raising e-mails . . . . There is also an opportunity to put up a comment. Our contribution:
"Greater freedom for the American people will only become possible if we restrict Congress's freedom to intervene...
Read More Minus-three for Five
We noted with interest the President's recent directive to federal agencies to reduce the bottom 5% of their discretionary operating budgets for the current fiscal year (Obama, June 9, 2010). Given that budget cutting in Washington usually means continuing to expand, but at a slower pace, this constitutes real progress.
Of...
Read More Starve the Beast (of my choice, please)
by Michael Smith
Last week, Robert J. Samuelson of the Washington Post penned a meaty column about the country’s fiscal outlook and the choices we face about the size and scope of government. It’s no surprise that a moderate conservative like Samuelson would tackle these issues, but until recently, a left-leaning...
Read More Who do we want to be?
By James Schaefer
Some years ago Claude Bristol wrote a book entitled, "The Magic of Believing". It covers, among other things, the importance of personal responsibility---in our decisions about school, our career paths, and our life goals. It applies to our moral standards, our management of personal finances, and our management of debt.
It...
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