Culberson Supports Balanced Budget Amendment

Texas Representative John Culberson released this explanation of his support of a Balanced Budget Amendment:

I have been a proud cosponsor of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution every session since I was sworn into office in 2001. As a free market, constitutional conservative, I’m convinced that a Balanced Budget Amendment is only way to get our country back on the right fiscal track. We must stop the tide of spending to save our children and grandchildren from drowning in the ocean of debt that Washington has created.

It’s time for Washington to stop spending money it simply doesn’t have. The idea of balancing a budget is not an “unproven economic theory.” Currently, 49 states abide by some type of a balanced budget amendment. If state governments can force themselves to live within their means, the federal government can too. A constitutional amendment to balance the budget every fiscal year would legally force (not simply “advise” or “recommend”) Congress to spend no more than it takes in.

A Balanced Budget Amendment would incorporate three fundamental principles:

(1) amend the Constitution to require that total spending for any fiscal year not exceed total receipts;

(2) require that bills to raise revenues pass each House of Congress by a 2/3 majority; and

(3) establish an annual spending cap so that total federal spending could not exceed 18% of the economic output of the United States.

Businesses across the country have criticized the government for crippling their ability to grow and create jobs. Over-regulating, over-taxing, and over-spending are shattering business and consumer confidence in our fragile economy. By forcing a vote on the Balanced Budget Amendment by the end of this year, Republicans are showing that we’ve heard the call from families and businesses that “enough is enough.”