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View Full Version : Ron needs to publicly endorse a balanced budget amendment




eduardo89
05-17-2011, 09:55 PM
I'm surprised Ron never talks about a balanced budget amendment in debates or in the media. We all know he's vehemently against deficits, but I never hear him explicitly talk about passing a constitutional amendment, especially in interviews about raising the debt ceiling. I think it's an issue he should bring up and it would resonate with voters.

Furthermore if we want a Demint endorsement, this would go a long way, especially if he endorsed Mike Lee's proposal which Demint cosponsored and supports. Demint has already said it's one of the conditions to an endorsement to support a BBA

sailingaway
05-17-2011, 10:00 PM
I think a balanced budget amendment is a gimmick. If it is worded right I'm ok with it but I think it will be meaningless in practice, just like the debt ceiling, and by the time it is ratified we'd better already have dealt with this. I know Rand is hot for it, and I'm resigned to it but I think it is a waste of hot air arguing about it.

freshjiva
05-17-2011, 10:32 PM
I agree. Imagine the brownie points he'd score with the rest of the Tea Party if he, during a debate or even on the air, began saying:

"I support the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that Senators Mike Lee, Jim DeMint, and Rand Paul are all proposing."

Repeat that sentence over and over to get people to realize he's for the fiscal reforms that his own son and his son's two best allies are working for. The Tea Party will eat this stuff up.

Vessol
05-18-2011, 01:05 AM
I'd prefer an amendment that ended central banking.

Then you'd have a balanced budget.

Qdog
05-18-2011, 01:09 AM
I'm surprised Ron never talks about a balanced budget amendment in debates or in the media. We all know he's vehemently against deficits, but I never hear him explicitly talk about passing a constitutional amendment, especially in interviews about raising the debt ceiling. I think it's an issue he should bring up and it would resonate with voters.

Furthermore if we want a Demint endorsement, this would go a long way, especially if he endorsed Mike Lee's proposal which Demint cosponsored and supports. Demint has already said it's one of the conditions to an endorsement to support a BBA

+1 Agreed

Sola_Fide
05-18-2011, 01:34 AM
Ron said in the CPAC speech that even if the federal budget was balanced, it would still be spending too much.

eduardo89
05-18-2011, 06:11 AM
Ron said in the CPAC speech that even if the federal budget was balanced, it would still be spending too much.

Of course they'd still be spending to much. But I'd rather have a federal government spending 18% of GDP than one spending 25%. It's a start and Ron supporting a BBA would be more of a political decision than one routed in ideology. The reality is he needs votes and supporting a BBA is very attractive to primary voters.

Feeding the Abscess
05-18-2011, 06:18 AM
A balanced budget amendment would be an unmitigated disaster. Like I really want a bunch of socialists determining how much in taxes we need to pay to cover the budget.

eduardo89
05-18-2011, 06:33 AM
A balanced budget amendment would be an unmitigated disaster. Like I really want a bunch of socialists determining how much in taxes we need to pay to cover the budget.

That's why you need a hard cap in relation to GDP. Simply saying balance the budget won't work, they'll just raise taxes to 50% of GDP so they can spend that much.