Texas GOP Vote

I have previously written why we should not support a Balanced Budget Amendment. A BBA would lead to a loss of separation of powers with the Supreme Court making budget decisions when Congress could not come to agreement on a balanced budget. Balancing the budget would be too painful and cause deep political unrest with the deep cuts in spending to entitlements that would be absolutely necessary.

Louie Gohmert (TX), Paul Ryan (WI) and two other Wise Republicans Voted NO!

I have long been one of only a few Republican conservative activists openly opposing the politically popular call for a Balanced Budget Amendment. While I certainly am an advocate for balanced budgets, to mandate a constitutional amendment that would require every federal budget to balance expenditures with incoming revenue,

House Democrats today blocked passage of a constitutional amendment that would have required the federal government to balance its budget. H.J. Res. 2, a proposed Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, was introduced by Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and has 241 Republican and Democrat cosponsors. Unfortunately, a majority of House Democrats voted against the measure, preventing the House from getting the two-thirds majority vote required for passage. The final vote was 261-165.   Read more »

Today, I released the following statement in response to the House vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution:

Today the House had the opportunity to move forward on a common-sense, permanent solution to our nation’s spending-driven debt crisis. Unfortunately for the American people, House Democrats reaffirmed their commitment to fiscal recklessness and rejected requiring the federal government to do what hardworking Americans do every day: balance a budget.   Read more »

Americans want the federal government to stop excessive government spending and reduce the federal deficit.

The last time the budget was balanced was during the Clinton Administration, when Republicans in Congress passed the first balanced budget in over 25 years. Meanwhile, the federal debt has climbed from less than $400 billion in 1970 to over $15 trillion today.   Read more »

Ahead of the upcoming vote in the House of Representatives, I will call on Congress to adopt a strong balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in a speech at the Heritage Foundation today.

The following are excerpts from my speech, as prepared for delivery. 

Today’s Challenges

“So what’s the difference between the fiscal challenges our Founders faced, and those we face today? The answer is pretty simple:   Read more »

The House Judiciary Committee approved a balanced budget amendment (H.J. Res. 1) to the Constitution to restore fiscal responsibility and accountability to federal government spending. The proposal for a balanced budget amendment passed the Committee by a vote of 20-12.

Americans want the federal government to curb excessive government spending and erase the federal deficit.

Since 1960, the annual federal budget has been balanced only six times and the federal deficit has climbed from $300 billion in 1960 to over $14 trillion today.   Read more »

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today led their Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee in sending a letter to the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights Subcommittee Chairman Dick Durbin urging him to hold hearings on S.J. Res. 10, which calls for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The full text of the letter is below:

June 8, 2011

The Honorable Dick Durbin, Chairman
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights
Senate Judiciary Committee

IS A BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT A DANGEROUS GIMMICK?

It surprises me that so many Republicans and Tea Partiers (of which I am both) are so excited about passing a Balanced Budget Amendment to our U.S. Constitution. All conservatives favor balanced budgets, but the catch is in HOW to balance the budget

There has been a lot of discussion lately about Congress attempting to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA). In light of the incredible deficits run up by the Obama administration, and in particular, the speed at which these deficits have manifested themselves, there has been a strong push by some Senators and Representatives to pass a BBA resolution. Senators John Cornyn, Orrin Hatch, Mike Lee, Pat Toomey and others have been pursuing this idea for some time.   Read more »