Just completed a conference call with Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah concerning his bill to balance the budget. It is his belief that without some sort of mandatory limit on spending, Congress will never live within it’s means.

his proposed amendment would require that outlays do not exceed revenues – what a novel concept! He would allow for exceptions, however, but these would be subject to a 2/3 majority to raise taxes, raise the debt ceiling or exceed 18% of the Gross Domestic Product.

There is also a bill in the works from Senator Hatch which, according to Senator Lee is less restrictive on spending.

I asked the senator if there was any bipartisan support for his or Senator Hatch’s bill or if the Democrats had proposed any type of balanced budget bill. The simple answer to both questions was no.

So while several Republican Senators are working to hold back the spending and not increase taxes, the Democrats are not actively interested in pulling back on spending.

This proposed amendment will have a rough time getting past the Democratic majority in the Senate.

One question posed was how we would fund war spending in the future, and Senator Lee responded that the 2/3 majority vote required to either raise the debt ceiling or raise taxes would provide a means for unforeseen events such as wars.

The Senate may make the audio for this call available, and if they do, I will post it.

About Tom White

Tom is a US Navy Veteran, owns an Insurance Agency and is currently an IT Manager for a Virginia Distributor. He has been published in American Thinker, currently writes for the Richmond Examiner as well as Virginia Right! Blog. Tom lives in Hanover County, Va and is involved in politics at every level and is a Recovering Republican who has finally had enough of the War on Conservatives in progress with the Leadership of the GOP on a National Level.

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