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Article: Balanced-Budget Law: Congress's Easy Way Out
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 31, 1992
- Author:
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I return to the question of the "balanced budget amendment"
(discussed in this space two weeks ago) because there is still a
chance - a small one - that Congress will regain its senses and
defeat a proposal that even its backers concede is a lousy idea.
One of the worst pieces of legislation in many years, a
balanced budget amendment, if passed and ratified by 38 states,
could put the government in a straitjacket limiting its response to
social and economic emergencies such as the Los Angeles riot or
national business recessions.
The stipulation that receipts must exactly balance expenditures
would even apply in wartime, unless Congress waived the requirement.
Think of it: Troops ...