Balanced Budgets: Tea Party ‘Terrorizing’ Europe

While American lawmakers and the president are watching their disastrous monetary and fiscal policies unfold with the credit downgrade of U.S. debt by Standard & Poor’s (S&P), some European countries are finally waking up to the reality of failed Keynesian economic policies that the tea party has been warning about for years. Last week, Italy and France have both proposed adding a Balanced Budget Amendment to their constitutions.

It is baffling to see glimpses of Europe awakening up to the economic calamity of failed Keynesian policies while the United States continues the status quo. The Federal Reserve has been discussing adding a new round Quantitative Easing 3 (QE3) even when previous quantitative easing programs have failed and proved more harmful to the economy. As Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” The president seems unwilling to consider alternative options, with members of his administration calling tea party activists “terrorists” for demanding spending cuts and fiscal discipline. Perhaps the president should be classifying Italy and France as state sponsors of terrorism for proposing a tea party “radical” balanced budget amendment.

Passing a Balanced Budget Amendment is not so farfetched. After the Republican Revolution in 1995, the House passed a Balanced Budget Amendment, but the Senate came one vote short of passage. Now, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) have proposed H.J. Res. 1 or the Goodlatte – Walsh Balanced Budget Amendment. H.J. Res 1 would require Congress to pass a balanced budget every year, require a two-thirds majority to increase taxes, and would limit spending to 18 percent of GDP per year. The proposed amendment is highly received in the United States with a recent poll showing 74 percent of Americans supporting a Balanced Budget Amendment.

It is the United States that should be leading the rest of the world in fiscal responsibility, spending restraint and free-market capitalism. A start to the restoration of economic growth begins with a Balanced Budget Amendment. Call your Representative today, and ask them to support H.J. Resolution 1, the Goodlatte – Walsh Balanced Budget Amendment.