Balanced Budget Amendment 1997 Analysis

Balanced work out Amendment 1997 AnalysisBalanced Budget AmendmentVu LuuIntroductionIn March 4, 1997, the equilibrize figure amendment was defeated in the unify States Senate by just one vote. Fast forward to the present, the unify States is facing a $17 trillion shortfall versus the $5 trillion in 1997. The header that remains to be asked is had the fit reckon amendment passed the United States Senate and approved by Congress in 1997, would we be facing the debt crisis that we be facing nowadays? Based on my conclusion, the answer that I recollect is no, the debt crisis would not bind been as severe as it is today. In this paper I forget argue why the United States need a national residued work out amendment in the constitution. In particular, I will discuss the quest bear witnesss to back up my claim future implications if no changes in policies and understand politics sp closing curtain.As the United States federal deficit continues to grow, many are asking for a fit budget amendment to be added to the constitution. A balanced budget amendment would require the federal government not to spend much than it receives in revenue. This means it would be unconstitutional and against the law for the federal government to accumulate budget deficits.THE NATIONAL DEBT ISNT GOING TO GO international concord to the 2012 Congressional Budget Office report, our reliable policies will at long last lead to a federal debt that would eventually reach a 90% gross domestic product by 2022, 109% by 2026, and 200% by 2037 (CBO 11). These estimates are based on the assumption that our up-to-the-minute laws remain in universal unchanged and that our outlay policies which is the cause of the accumulation of budget deficits remain the same. The CBO budget estimates are also based on forecasts of economic state, demographic trends, and preceding(a) experience. The other(a) interesting estimate that the CBO reported was that even if there were general changes in our legitimate laws, they estimate that the budget deficit would reach intimately 60% of GDP by 2020 which is only 10% lower than our current situation (CBO 7).As indicated by the chart above, our annual deficit by 2021 would never drop below $1 trillion dollars under current policies. Although the main cause of the spike in deficit disbursement from 2008-2011 was primarily due to the recession, the Congressional Budget Office doesnt believe the United States would recover under current laws. The balance budget amendment does allow exception, which in this case is the recession. If the national balance budget amendment was in place indeed after 2011, the annual deficit would only go down because of the floor budget changes in programs.Its pretty apparent that the money we are acquire is increasing more(prenominal) and more, but what will happen when it reaches that point when we have to fuck off re give birthing these loans? The government textbook gives us a corking example of what happened to Greece when they couldnt pay off all their loans. The interest rate on Greek government went way up and by 2011, they had to pay 25% to obtain a two-year loan from private field (Sidlow 6). Compared to the United States, we are paying a mere 0.44% compared to the 25% Greece had to pay. The ending results in the Greek government shut out of private borrowing and had to depend on other European countries. The Greece example and the CBOs estimates are huge future implications and urge for huge changes in our policies which I believe is the federal balanced budget amendment.CALIFORNIA BALANCED BUDGET AND federal BALANCED BUDGETAlthough most states in the United States have a balanced budget amendment, the federal government does not and usually exceed with a deficit. California has struggled with the state deficit ever since the 2002 recession. They were in a deficit of more than $20 billion in 2003 and had to force forceful cuts to meet their bu dget (Gerston 104). In 2011, the state was in a $26 billion deficit and Jerry Brown had to take drastic measures and force more cuts in programs. All this summarizes to one thing and that is they took care of their problems with minimal support. The current federal government under the Obama administration doesnt front to be taking drastic measures to cut federal deficit. Instead, it seems the federal government is spending more than ever. One example of wasteful spending that I assemble is the building of an unused $75.5 million aerodrome and a $29 million harbor with no roads in Alaska in 2012 (Yahoo). Its real questionable for them to use stimulus money for these projects.The building of the unused airport and harbor is an indicator that not all politicians share the same view. The ones that run the country and the ones that run a state may have argue views and that could bring up different priorities. According to the Government Accountability Office, the United States is o n an unsustainable path because of the emphasis on Medicare and Social Security spending (Wikipedia). President Obama is known for his emphasis on Medicare and that could be contagious to other politicians. What I am trying to draw from this is that if President Clinton, who had a purposeless during his administration, was still the president then I dont mobilise we would have an overspending problem. President Clinton attacked the deficit by balancing the budget with ordinary fiscal policy and raising taxes (Wikipedia), whereas President Obama doesnt seem to be drastically cutting spending or raising taxes.why THE NATIONAL DEBT IS ONLY GROWINGThe United States would never recover from this deficit unless they fix one problem and that is overspending. The revenue the public generates is fine, so that isnt the problem. The problem lies with the government and the excessive spending. Congress has three options concerning spending which are 1) they can cut it, 2)raise tax rates, or 3) pass it to the localized government. From my perspective, it seems the likes of they did none of these and chose to spend money that isnt budgeted which essentially only adds more to the deficit.The graph above shows the average spending from 1960-2009 which is 20.3%. Notice how when spending increase, revenue also increase. Unfortunately, this isnt the case for the situation we are in. We are before long sitting at an all- sequence high spending of 24.7% whereas our revenue is at an all-time low of 14.8% (The Heritage Foundation). The sensible action to be taken in this situation is to decrease spending, which we obviously havent. If Congress is mandated to balance the budget, it would determine which programs are inefficient and would spend money more rationally.If the balanced budget amendment passes, I believe it would decrease overspending because it would require the president to aim to Congress a balanced federal budget each year. According to Steven Calabresi, a profes sor at Northwestern University and co-founder of the Federalist Society, Congress should be constitutionally required to hold a vote with the presidents intercommunicate budget in 3 months and with the president and Congress having a time period of up to six months to accept a final budget (The American Spectator). If they fail to adopt a final budget during the allocated amount of money of time, all federal spending except payments on the debt should be frozen.In conclusion, if we are to solve are national deficit then we should start focusing on the national balanced budget amendment. The balance budget amendment will force the president to submit and a balanced federal budget each year with the president and Congress both agreeing on the final budget. Overall, this will decrease overspending which is the main cause of our increasingly deficit. whole kit and caboodle Cited1.The 2012 Long-Term Budget Outlook. Publication no. 43288. N.p. n.p., n.d.Congressional Budget Office. Web. 15 may 2014. http//www.cbo.gov/publication/43288 .2.Sidlow, Edward, and Beth Henschen.GOVT, 4th, Student Edition. N.p. Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.3.Gerston, Larry N., and Terry Christensen.California Politics and Government A virtual(a) Approach. Boston, MA Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2014. Print.4. National Debt of the United States.Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Dec. 2014. Web. 15 May 2014. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States .5. Balanced Budget Amendment.Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_budget_amendmentGeorge_H._W._Bush_and_Ross_Perot .6. Pfeiffer, Eric. Alaskan Town Home to Airport with No Planes and Harbor with No Road.Yahoo immatures. Yahoo, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 May 2014. http//news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/alaskan-town-home-airport-no-planes-harbor-no-230803871.html .7. Riedl, Brian. New CBO Budget Baseline Reveals Permanent Trillion-Dollar Deficits.The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 May 2014. http//www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/01/new-cbo-budget-baseline-reveals-permanent-trillion-dollar-deficits .8. Calabresi, Steven. The Answer Is a Balanced Budget Amendment.The American Spectator. The American Spectator, Oct. 2011. Web. 15 May 2014. http//spectator.org/articles/36823/answer-balanced-budget-amendment .