By Staff
Monday marked the beginning of a new fiscal year, and I remain concerned about the several trillion dollar deficit our country faces. Each year, Congress is challenged with determining how to spend taxpayer dollars.
We must ask ourselves a difficult question: Should we continue to fund programs that are politically advantageous or should we make tough decisions to cut spending to decrease our ever-growing federal debt? While the path of least resistance is to increase spending, the long-term implications of a deficit are far more dangerous than any spending cut. Until the federal government is required to spend only the amount of money that it takes in, I fear that we will continue to write checks that the Treasury cannot cash. It is for this reason that I have, once again, introduced a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
A balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is the only certain mechanism that will break the cycle of deficit spending. The measure will ensure that the government does not continue to saddle our children and grandchildren with the current generation's debts. Essentially, this amendment requires that the United States not spend more money than it receives in revenue, except in times of war or when suspended by a vote of three-fifths of both houses of Congress.
Throughout my tenure in Congress I have devoted a significant amount of my time to this idea. One of the most important things the federal government can do to enhance the lives of all Americans and future generations is balance the federal budget. For that reason, I have introduced a balanced budget amendment in every Congress since 1981.
Our founding fathers believed that government should operate within budgetary constraints. Alexander Hamilton once wrote that, &#8220