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Republican Balanced Budget Amendment Is a Ruse

Leading Republicans would have us believe that a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) is a good idea because 49 states have such a requirement.

As Dr. Phil might say, "How's that working out?"

Many state governments have figured out how to game the system. Officials claim balanced budgets, but leave long-term obligations off their books. {Source: truthinaccounting.org/state-of-states/}

That's like pretending your mortgage is not your debt, because your current payment is only $1,200.

Coincidentally, Congress is great at playing con games. Once the BBA becomes part of the U.S. Constitution, what things will Congress and the President pretend are off the books?

The GOP's BBA will SWELL the Federal State to new levels of bloat, by ...

    --  Ignoring the clear limitations already imposed by the Constitution
    --  Substituting those limits for the permanent enshrinement of a government
        sized at a whopping 18% of GDP
    --  Saying nothing about how GDP is to be calculated
    --  Providing no direction about what is to be counted in the budget

There's a much better tool for enforcing budgetary sanity: The debt ceiling. It must never be raised again.

http://www.CaptheDebt.com

Congress should ... MAKE REAL CUTS NOW.

The fight for a BBA is political Onanism. Do Republicans want those of us who are fiscally conscious to waste our energy, while they continue to borrow and spend?

SOURCE DownsizeDC.org