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Human Events...
McConnell: All 47 GOP
Senators Co-Sponsor New Balanced Budget Amendment
by Emily Miller
03/31/2011
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) announced Thursday
afternoon that all 47 Republican Senators have co-sponsored a
“consensus Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” HUMAN
EVENTS learned exclusively. This year’s budget deficit is projected to
be $1.6 trillion, and the national debt is currently $14.1 trillion.
The key provisions of the new balanced budget amendment (BBA) are:
Congress must pass a balanced budget; the President has to submit a
balanced budget; spending is capped at 18% of the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP); “supermajority” vote (two-thirds of House and Senate) to
raise taxes; and “new supermajority” vote (three-fifths of House and
Senate) to raise the debt ceiling.
“We’ve been fighting to cut spending in the near-term and that’s why
we’ll soon be proposing a balanced budget amendment. American families
have to balance their budgets. So should their elected representatives
in Washington. It’s not too much to expect that lawmakers spend no more
than they take in,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday morning.
Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, amendments require passage by
two-thirds of the House and the Senate and ratification by
three-quarters (34) of the states. The House passed a BBA in 1995. In
1997, a Senate BBA failed to pass by only one vote. The 1997 BBA was
supported by 11 Democrats, four of whom are still in the Senate: Max
Baucus (Mont.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Herb Kohl (Wisc.), and Mary Landrieu
(La.).
Senate Republicans have been divided for months between two different
versions of the BBA, one co-sponsored by Sens. Orrin Hatch (Utah) and
John Cornyn (Texas) and the other co-sponsored by Sens. Jon Kyl (Ariz.)
and Mike Lee (Utah). There were 33 Republicans who supported the
Hatch-Cornyn amendment, and 17 supported an amendment by Lee and Kyl.
Other Senators had specific concerns about provisions in both versions
of the BBA.
Two weeks ago, Senators Hatch, Cornyn, Lee, Kyl, and Pat Toomey (Penn.)
announced a press conference to unveil their versions of the BBA.
McConnell told them to call off the press conference until they had a
united Republican conference in support of one final piece of
legislation.
Then, McConnell asked the principals in the BBA debate to go back and
negotiate a unified version that took into account all the requests
from members of the caucus. The final version which they are announced
on Thursday is co-sponsored by every Senate Republican.
The specific provisions of the consensus Senate BBA were obtained
exclusively by HUMAN EVENTS. They are as follows:
1) Presidential Requirement to Submit a Balanced Budget: Prior to each
fiscal year, the President must transmit to Congress a balanced budget
that limits outlays to 18 percent of GDP.
2) Requirement to Pass a Balanced Budget: With the following limited
exceptions, Congress must pass a balanced budget.
* Requires 2/3 of both Houses for a specific deficit
for a fiscal year.
* Requires a majority of Congress for a specific
deficit for a fiscal year during a declared war.
* Requires 3/5 of Congress for a specific deficit
for a fiscal year during a military conflict declared to be “an
imminent and serious military threat to national security” and the
deficit must be limited to “outlays…made necessary by the identified
conflict.”
3) 18 Percent Spending Cap: With the following limited exceptions,
Congress must limit outlays to 18 percent of GDP.
* Requires 2/3 of both Houses for a specific excess
above 18 percent for a fiscal year.
* Requires a majority of Congress for a specific
excess above 18 percent for a fiscal year during a declared war.
* Requires 3/5 of Congress for a specific excess
above 18 percent for a fiscal year during a military conflict declared
to be “an imminent and serious military threat to national security”
and the excess be limited to “outlays…made necessary by the identified
conflict.”
4) Supermajority for Tax Increases: Establishes a new supermajority
requirement for net tax and rate increases.
* Requires 2/3 of both Houses for any bill “that
imposes a new tax or increases the statutory rate of any tax or the
aggregate amount of revenue.”
* Excludes increases in revenue resulting from tax
cuts.
5) Supermajority to Raise the Debt Limit: Establishes a new
supermajority requirement for an increase in the debt limit.
* Requires 3/5 of both Houses to increase the debt
limit.
* Requires a majority of Congress for a fiscal year
during a declared war.
6) Congressional Enforcement and Use of Estimates: Provides for
congressional enforcement and the use of estimates.
7) Limits on Courts: Prohibits courts from ordering revenue increases
to enforce.
8) Effective Date: Becomes effective the fifth fiscal year after
ratification.
The Republicans need 20 Democrats to reach the 67 vote threshold for
passage. But, McConnell said Thursday morning on the Senate floor that,
“Democrats are already lining up against it.” The Senate voted on a
non-binding amendment for a BBA, sponsored by Lee that got a vote of
58-40, picking up 11 Democrat votes. If that test vote would be an
accurate measure for vote counting, then only nine more Democrats are
needed to pass a BBA this year.
Outside the U.S. Captiol on Thursday, members of the Tea Party
protested against excessive government spending by Congress. Leader
McConnell went to the Senate floor to defend against attacks on the Tea
Party this week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-N.V.) and Sen.
Chuck Schumer (D.-N.Y.).
“At a time when the national debt has reached crisis levels, members of
the Tea Party are asking that we stop spending more than we take in. In
other words, they’re asking that lawmakers in Washington do what any
household in America already does: they want us to balance our budget,”
said McConnell. “And they do this because they know their history, and
that the road to decline is paved with debt.”
Read it at Human Events
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