Do we need a Balanced Budget Amendment? No!

There has been a lot of talk over the years about a Balanced Budget Amendment, for example, this article from the Heritage Foundation.

But as others point out, current Amendment proposals do not have the power or teeth to really solve the problems, see here for example.

Specifically, any budget resolution, Paygo, or Amendment that seeks to control spending bill, by bill, by department, whatever, probably will not work for two reasons;

1. Politicians will find a way around the limitations: heck, many lawmakers openly admit "we don't care about the Constitution".

2. You are trying to limit the spending of an organism whose nature is to grow. And it is already so big that snipping bits and pieces of spending here and there make no real progress against the whole.

What I believe we need is a truly radical solution: The Constitutional Federal Government Amendment.

The Constitutional Federal Government Amendment would simply say two things:

1. The Federal Government cannot spend money on those things not delegated to it by the original Constitution of the United States and Amendments thereto.

2. The Federal Government cannot raise taxes from the people of the country beyond those needed to fund its Constitutionally delegated responsibilities.

The point is, we need radical surgery to stop the hemorrhaging of spending that is sucking the vitality out of this country.

And we have the instructions on how to do that: it's called the Constitution of the United States of America.