Sen Richard Shelby: "A Balanced Budget NOW"

A Balanced Budget Now

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Today marks a new fiscal year and a new opportunity to realign the nation’s spending priorities.  Bailouts, stimulus programs, government takeovers of private industry, and costly reforms have consumed and overwhelmed the federal budget.  American taxpayers are rightly exasperated by the federal government’s disregard for the same economic laws that govern every household and business budget. 

Since the federal government lacks the will to spend only what it collects, action is necessary to force fiscal discipline.  That is why today I introduced legislation to amend the U.S. Constitution to ensure that the federal government balances its books each fiscal year.  Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have devoted a significant amount of my time to this idea.  I have introduced a balanced budget amendment in every Congress since 1981.  I believe this legislation is needed now more than ever.

Proponents of big, intrusive government have been reckless with our taxpayer dollars over the past year.  The Congressional Budget Office projects federal spending will exceed revenues by $1.8 trillion during the 2009 fiscal year – a budget deficit larger than those from 2002 through 2007 combined, and, by far, the largest deficit in U.S. history.   The federal government will borrow more than 43 cents of every dollar it spends this year.  In addition, the White House projects $10.6 trillion in new deficits between 2009 and 2019—nearly $80,000 per household in new borrowing – and this projection excludes the staggering cost of health care reform. 

A balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is the only certain mechanism that will break the cycle of deficit spending.  This measure would 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.

Thomas Jefferson stated, “I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt."  I completely agree with this sentiment and believe that history has supported Jefferson’s thoughts.  Our prominence as a world superpower has relied heavily on our nation’s economic stability and solvency.  The continual undermining of our ability to pay our debts can only lead to future vulnerability and potential demise.    

Regrettably, the federal government continues to pass massive debt on to future generations.  Over the past 30 years, annual deficits have become routine and the federal government has incurred massive debt – nearly $12 trillion and rising quickly.  Piling debt onto future generations is not only detrimental to their freedom and ability to succeed; it is immoral.

We do not have the luxury of time on our side.  We must enact budget reform now, or risk falling into an abyss for which there may be no reemergence.  The time has come to stop the hemorrhaging and to cauterize the wounds caused by fiscal negligence and irresponsibility.  A balanced budget amendment would do just that.