Balanced Budget Amendment

Although there are some other nuanced ways to add an amendment to the US Constitution, (in this case a Balanced Budget Amendment), the two primary methods are as follows:

Bill by Congress
Both Houses of Congress can pass a Balanced Budget Amendment with a 2/3rds majority in each House. Once passed, it is sent to the States and needs to be ratified by 75% of the States (i.e., 38 states) in their State Legislatures or in State Conventions.

Initiated by State Legislators
If 2/3rd of the State Legislatures call for a Constitutional Convention, then we will have a Constitutional Convention whereby various Amendments to the Constitution could be proposed. The proposed Amendments are then sent back to the States where they must be ratified by 75% of the States in their State Legislatures or in State Constitutional Conventions.

Both methods should be pursued. There is little danger of any crazy Amendments at a Constitutional Convention ever becoming law, as all proposed Amendments must be sent back to the States and then ratified by 75% of the States. This is a slow, difficult, and laborious process.

At the same time, pressure should be put on all those in Congress to propose and pass a Bill amending the Constitution so as to require a Balanced Budget.

Any such Amendment could have caveats so that it went into effect slowly. This would seem to make the most sense. For simplicity, it would seem that we would want to reduce the National Deficit by $200 billion a year. This is doable, and will send a clear message to the markets, that the United States is serious about getting its fiscal house in order, and, thus, we will enjoy the benefits of lower interest rates for a longer period of time.

How such a Balanced Budget Amendment would work would depend on the exact wording. However, one would presume that the Amendment might allow Congress to pass any Budget which was Balanced, and if it failed, then we would have across-the-board proportionate cuts.

Most great empires or countries don’t last forever. Our country is at a crossroads. I encourage you to like, dislike, or comment on Article as a whole or any individual section; but more importantly, I encourage you to engage in the conversation regarding these four pressing problems and their solution. It’s your country!

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