United We Stand, Divided We Fall

The Columbus Dispatch ran an editorial October 3, 2013 entitled A different path needed with a subtitle Fiscal crises could be curbed with a balanced budget amendment. The proposal is to have an amendment to the US Constitution requiring a balanced budget. It forces the President and the Congress to become fiscally responsible given our current debt crises and a trajectory of that debt that gets progressively worse over the next 50 years unless reasoned action is taken. It is a very good thought especially given the efforts by Governor Kasich and others in Ohio along these same lines. I see two issues. First, to amend the US Constitution is a formidable task and one that should be undertaken only for very broad and fundamental purposes. Though the debt crises is a major issue and could bankrupt our country, other steps should be taken to handle this lack of fiscal responsibility by our representatives first before moving to that drastic step. Second, the amendment requiring a balanced budget each year would be economically damaging to the country. During bad times, the federal government should and will naturally run a deficit given the support mechanisms in place (unemployment compensation, welfare, Medicaid, food stamps, etc.). During good times, the federal government should run a surplus as the support mechanisms are not needed as intensively.
A step to take before amending the constitution might be to expand what Congress did when they passed the ‘No Budget, No Pay Act’ in the early part of this year. That act required that the US Federal budget for FY 2013 be passed by April 15, 2013 or Congress would not be paid from that day forward. The Act worked. A budget was passed before the deadline. The expanded No Budget No Pay Act would include a requirement that the Congress pass and the President sign the Fy2015 budget by June 30, 2014 and pass reforms for the entitlement programs (Social Security Disability and Retirement, Medicare, and Medicaid) by December 31, 2014. If they do not, the Congress is not paid nor is the President and his cabinet. In subsequent years, the budget must be passed by June 30 and the entitlements reformed (if required based upon the Trustees Report) by December 31. If they do not pass these bills, the Congress is not paid nor is the President and his cabinet after the appropriate deadlines.
Harry Pukay-Martin 10/4/2013