What is the purpose of a balanced budget amendment?
anyone know?
Answer:
To attempt to control spending or at least limit spending to how much tax revenues are collected. In your home, do you make it a practice to spend more than you make every year and go into debt? Not the best way to keep your family finances healthy, is it? If the government spends more than it collects (taxes), then we run a budge deficit and contribute to the national debt. If we attempt to balance a budget then spending is limited to the revenues collected and vise versa. I don't believe in a balance budget. I don't see the comparison between a household budget and the government budget as being the same argument. I think debt is acceptable as long as our ability to pay this debt is strong. We therefore look at debt as a percentage of GDP. I would be lying if I didn't have concerns with our debt, but much of what we hear and read about is hype and myth.
Balanced Budget Amendment is any one of various proposed amendments to the United States Constitution which would require a balance in the projected revenues and expenditures of the United States government. Most such proposals contain a supermajority exception allowed for times of war or national emergency.
There is no one proposed Amendment to which all proponents have agreed. Here, for example, is the text of the version presented to the Senate and to the House of Representatives which (after revision) was approved by the Senate (by a vote of 69 to 31) on 4 August 1982 but supported by an inadequate majority of the House of Representatives (with a vote of 236 to 187) on 1 October 1982:
Section 1. Prior to each fiscal year, the Congress shall adopt a statement of receipts and outlays for that year in which total outlays are no greater than total receipts. The Congress may amend such statement provided revised outlays are not greater than revised receipts. Whenever three-fifths of the whole number of both Houses shall deem it necessary, Congress in such statement may provide for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a vote directly to that subject. The Congress and the President shall ensure that actual outlays do not exceed the outlays set forth in such statement.
Section 2. Total receipts for any fiscal year set forth in the statement adopted pursuant to this article shall not increase by a rate greater than the rate of increase in national income in the last calendar year ending before such fiscal year, unless a majority of the whole number of both Houses of Congress shall have passed a bill directed solely to approving specific additional receipts and such bill has become law.
Section 3. The Congress may waive the provisions of this article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect.
Section 4. The Congress may not require that the states engage in additional activities without compensation equal to the additional costs.
Section 5. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States except those derived from borrowing and total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States except those for repayment of debt principal.
Section 6. This article shall take effect for the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification.
Here is a version introduced into the House of Representatives with 160 sponsors on 7 January 1997:
Section 1. Total outlays for any fiscal year shall not exceed total receipts for that fiscal year, unless three-fifths of the whole number of each House of Congress shall provide by law for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a rollcall vote.
Section 2. The limit on the debt of the United States held by the public shall not be increased, unless three-fifths of the whole number of each House shall provide by law for such an increase by a rollcall vote.
Section 3. Prior to each fiscal year, the President shall transmit to the Congress a proposed budget for the United States Government for that fiscal year in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts.
Section 4. No bill to increase revenue shall become law unless approved by a majority of the whole number of each House by a rollcall vote.
Section 5. The Congress may waive the provisions of this article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect. The provisions of this article may be waived for any fiscal year in which the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution, adopted by a majority of the whole number of each House, which becomes law.
Section 6. The Congress shall enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation, which may rely on estimates of outlays and receipts.
Section 7. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States Government except those derived from borrowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States Government except for those for repayment of debt principal. The receipts (including attributable interest) and outlays of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds (as and if modified to preserve the solvency of the Funds) used to provide old age, survivors, and disabilities benefits shall not be counted as receipts or outlays for purposes of this article.
Section 8. This article shall take effect beginning with fiscal year 2002 or with the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification, whichever is later.
And on 17 February 2005, a similar measure to that of 7 January 1997 was introduced with 24 sponsors, differing in these sections:
Section 6. The Congress shall enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation, which may rely on estimates of outlays and receipts. The appropriate committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate shall report to their respective Houses implementing legislation to achieve a balanced budget without increasing the receipts or reducing the disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund to achieve that goal.
Section 7. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States Government except those derived from borrowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States Government except for those for repayment of debt principal.
Section 8. This article shall take effect beginning with the later of the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification or the first fiscal year beginning after December 31, 2009.
And on 13 July 2005, with 123 sponsors, a version whose first five sections were as those of the previous two above, but which continued thus:
Section 6. The Congress shall enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation, which may rely on estimates of outlays and receipts.
Section 7. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States Government except those derived from borrowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States Government except for those]] for repayment of debt principal.
Section 8. This article shall take effect beginning with the later of the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification or the first fiscal year beginning after December 31, 2010.
Before, between, and since, markedly different measures have been proposed (albeit typically with fewer Congressional sponsors).
[edit] History
This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union had granted to the Continental Congress the power
to borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of the United States, transmitting every half-year to the respective States an account of the sums of money so borrowed or emitted
And, with this as a model,[2] Article I, Section 8, Clause 2 of the Constitution grants to the United States Congress the power
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
At the time that the Constitution came into effect, the United States had a significant debt, primarily associated with the Revolutionary War. There were differences within and between the major political coalitions over the possible liquidation or increase of this debt. As early as 1798, Thomas Jefferson wrote
I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government; I mean an additional article taking from the Federal Government the power of borrowing. I now deny their power of making paper money or anything else a legal tender. I know that to pay all proper expenses within the year would, in case of war, be hard on us. But not so hard as ten wars instead of one. For wars could be reduced in that proportion; besides that the State governments would be free to lend their credit in borrowing quotas.[1]
(Although Jefferson made a point of seeking a balanced budget during the early years of his administration, he seems to have later reversed himself, to effect the Louisiana Purchase. But note also that he made no exception for war, but rather saw the requirement of maintaining a balanced budget as a salutary deterrent.)
The issue of the federal debt was next addressed by the Constitution within Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment (proposed on 13 June 1866 and ratified on 9 July 1868):
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.
0n 4 May 1936, Representative Harold Knutson (R-Minnesota) introduced a resolution in support of a Constitutional Amendment that would have placed a per capita ceiling on the federal debt in peacetime.[2]
great explanations of the balanced budget amendment, and I agree that it won't work. We currently operate on a kinda functional finance system, and yes it does have its kinks. But imagine if the govt. was held to a balanced budget requirement and a natural disaster occurred? What if several occurred in one fiscal year? How do you chose who gets financial help and who doesn't? Currently, funds can be shifted and money release where it would be needed. Under a balanced budget requirement, these choices could get really tough.
Balanced Budget Amendment, if approved by Congress and ratified by the states, would forbid Congress to appropriate more money than the federal government receives in revenues. This requirement could be waived (in wartime for example) by a three-fifths vote of Congress.
The amendment would also require a three-fifths vote to raise taxes. In 1997, during the 105th Congress, the amendment failed by one vote in the Senate, just as it had in the 104th Congress, when Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon, a Republican, voted "No," drawing the wrath of conservatives in the Senate and nationwide. The House of Representatives approved the measure by a large margin in both instances.
Proponents argue that without the Balanced Budget Amendment Congress will be unable to resist deficit spending; opponents argue that it would hamstring Congress unnecessarily, especially in times of national emergency. While it failed to send a balanced budget amendment to the states, the 105th Congress did approve the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, signed into law by President William J. Clinton on 5 August 1997, which included a host of spending initiatives and tax credits. Sub-sequent to the act's passage, the federal government ran budget surpluses through the remaining years of the 1990s..
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Answer:
To attempt to control spending or at least limit spending to how much tax revenues are collected. In your home, do you make it a practice to spend more than you make every year and go into debt? Not the best way to keep your family finances healthy, is it? If the government spends more than it collects (taxes), then we run a budge deficit and contribute to the national debt. If we attempt to balance a budget then spending is limited to the revenues collected and vise versa. I don't believe in a balance budget. I don't see the comparison between a household budget and the government budget as being the same argument. I think debt is acceptable as long as our ability to pay this debt is strong. We therefore look at debt as a percentage of GDP. I would be lying if I didn't have concerns with our debt, but much of what we hear and read about is hype and myth.
Balanced Budget Amendment is any one of various proposed amendments to the United States Constitution which would require a balance in the projected revenues and expenditures of the United States government. Most such proposals contain a supermajority exception allowed for times of war or national emergency.
There is no one proposed Amendment to which all proponents have agreed. Here, for example, is the text of the version presented to the Senate and to the House of Representatives which (after revision) was approved by the Senate (by a vote of 69 to 31) on 4 August 1982 but supported by an inadequate majority of the House of Representatives (with a vote of 236 to 187) on 1 October 1982:
Section 1. Prior to each fiscal year, the Congress shall adopt a statement of receipts and outlays for that year in which total outlays are no greater than total receipts. The Congress may amend such statement provided revised outlays are not greater than revised receipts. Whenever three-fifths of the whole number of both Houses shall deem it necessary, Congress in such statement may provide for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a vote directly to that subject. The Congress and the President shall ensure that actual outlays do not exceed the outlays set forth in such statement.
Section 2. Total receipts for any fiscal year set forth in the statement adopted pursuant to this article shall not increase by a rate greater than the rate of increase in national income in the last calendar year ending before such fiscal year, unless a majority of the whole number of both Houses of Congress shall have passed a bill directed solely to approving specific additional receipts and such bill has become law.
Section 3. The Congress may waive the provisions of this article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect.
Section 4. The Congress may not require that the states engage in additional activities without compensation equal to the additional costs.
Section 5. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States except those derived from borrowing and total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States except those for repayment of debt principal.
Section 6. This article shall take effect for the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification.
Here is a version introduced into the House of Representatives with 160 sponsors on 7 January 1997:
Section 1. Total outlays for any fiscal year shall not exceed total receipts for that fiscal year, unless three-fifths of the whole number of each House of Congress shall provide by law for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a rollcall vote.
Section 2. The limit on the debt of the United States held by the public shall not be increased, unless three-fifths of the whole number of each House shall provide by law for such an increase by a rollcall vote.
Section 3. Prior to each fiscal year, the President shall transmit to the Congress a proposed budget for the United States Government for that fiscal year in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts.
Section 4. No bill to increase revenue shall become law unless approved by a majority of the whole number of each House by a rollcall vote.
Section 5. The Congress may waive the provisions of this article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect. The provisions of this article may be waived for any fiscal year in which the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution, adopted by a majority of the whole number of each House, which becomes law.
Section 6. The Congress shall enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation, which may rely on estimates of outlays and receipts.
Section 7. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States Government except those derived from borrowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States Government except for those for repayment of debt principal. The receipts (including attributable interest) and outlays of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds (as and if modified to preserve the solvency of the Funds) used to provide old age, survivors, and disabilities benefits shall not be counted as receipts or outlays for purposes of this article.
Section 8. This article shall take effect beginning with fiscal year 2002 or with the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification, whichever is later.
And on 17 February 2005, a similar measure to that of 7 January 1997 was introduced with 24 sponsors, differing in these sections:
Section 6. The Congress shall enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation, which may rely on estimates of outlays and receipts. The appropriate committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate shall report to their respective Houses implementing legislation to achieve a balanced budget without increasing the receipts or reducing the disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund to achieve that goal.
Section 7. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States Government except those derived from borrowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States Government except for those for repayment of debt principal.
Section 8. This article shall take effect beginning with the later of the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification or the first fiscal year beginning after December 31, 2009.
And on 13 July 2005, with 123 sponsors, a version whose first five sections were as those of the previous two above, but which continued thus:
Section 6. The Congress shall enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation, which may rely on estimates of outlays and receipts.
Section 7. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States Government except those derived from borrowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States Government except for those]] for repayment of debt principal.
Section 8. This article shall take effect beginning with the later of the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification or the first fiscal year beginning after December 31, 2010.
Before, between, and since, markedly different measures have been proposed (albeit typically with fewer Congressional sponsors).
[edit] History
This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union had granted to the Continental Congress the power
to borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of the United States, transmitting every half-year to the respective States an account of the sums of money so borrowed or emitted
And, with this as a model,[2] Article I, Section 8, Clause 2 of the Constitution grants to the United States Congress the power
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
At the time that the Constitution came into effect, the United States had a significant debt, primarily associated with the Revolutionary War. There were differences within and between the major political coalitions over the possible liquidation or increase of this debt. As early as 1798, Thomas Jefferson wrote
I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government; I mean an additional article taking from the Federal Government the power of borrowing. I now deny their power of making paper money or anything else a legal tender. I know that to pay all proper expenses within the year would, in case of war, be hard on us. But not so hard as ten wars instead of one. For wars could be reduced in that proportion; besides that the State governments would be free to lend their credit in borrowing quotas.[1]
(Although Jefferson made a point of seeking a balanced budget during the early years of his administration, he seems to have later reversed himself, to effect the Louisiana Purchase. But note also that he made no exception for war, but rather saw the requirement of maintaining a balanced budget as a salutary deterrent.)
The issue of the federal debt was next addressed by the Constitution within Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment (proposed on 13 June 1866 and ratified on 9 July 1868):
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.
0n 4 May 1936, Representative Harold Knutson (R-Minnesota) introduced a resolution in support of a Constitutional Amendment that would have placed a per capita ceiling on the federal debt in peacetime.[2]
great explanations of the balanced budget amendment, and I agree that it won't work. We currently operate on a kinda functional finance system, and yes it does have its kinks. But imagine if the govt. was held to a balanced budget requirement and a natural disaster occurred? What if several occurred in one fiscal year? How do you chose who gets financial help and who doesn't? Currently, funds can be shifted and money release where it would be needed. Under a balanced budget requirement, these choices could get really tough.
Balanced Budget Amendment, if approved by Congress and ratified by the states, would forbid Congress to appropriate more money than the federal government receives in revenues. This requirement could be waived (in wartime for example) by a three-fifths vote of Congress.
The amendment would also require a three-fifths vote to raise taxes. In 1997, during the 105th Congress, the amendment failed by one vote in the Senate, just as it had in the 104th Congress, when Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon, a Republican, voted "No," drawing the wrath of conservatives in the Senate and nationwide. The House of Representatives approved the measure by a large margin in both instances.
Proponents argue that without the Balanced Budget Amendment Congress will be unable to resist deficit spending; opponents argue that it would hamstring Congress unnecessarily, especially in times of national emergency. While it failed to send a balanced budget amendment to the states, the 105th Congress did approve the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, signed into law by President William J. Clinton on 5 August 1997, which included a host of spending initiatives and tax credits. Sub-sequent to the act's passage, the federal government ran budget surpluses through the remaining years of the 1990s..
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