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Republican senators push for balanced budget amendment

Why are Republicans suddenly in favor of a balanced budget amendment? Wasn't the war in Iraq largely financed through debt? (Not looking to turn this into a right or wrong on the war, simply saying that there was a lot of debt involved in a war that their party overwhelmingly supported)

The reason why it's a bad idea is this. Debt isn't always bad. Think about your personal finances -- if you own a house, you probably didn't come up with cash for it. You have a mortgage, which is debt. Car payments? Debt. Would your life be better with no house and no car?

If Bush, either of them, had said "I want a war and we should pay for it up front with increased taxes", our economy would be a lot better off.
 
We have to do this because they have clearly demonstrated that they cannot be trusted with money. We must do it.
 
Have you noticed we were and are still in two wars. And BTW we have pretty much always had deficits. Nothing new there.
....have you seen the deficits we've had since Democrats took over the House in 2006?
 
This would be incredibly an incredibly stupid amendment if it wasn't just a cynical stunt. The Republicans know perfectly well that this amendment would spell disaster during an economic crisis. Even their conservative think tank representative says so, and I requote from the article:
"It (the amendment proposal) is about the most irresponsible action imaginable," said Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "It would virtually ensure that an economic downturn would end up as a deep depression, by erasing any real ability of the government to pursue countercyclical fiscal policies and in fact demanding the opposite, at the worst possible time.
The Republicans know it won't pass, know it shouldn't pass, don't want it to pass, and won't seriously seek to expend the enormous energy required to give it a chance to pass. This is the Republicans trying to keep their more ignorant supporters energized for them, while doing nothing real toward the goal those supporters support.
 
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Reality? You act like there is not choice in the direction of reality. So that's how the left justifies its thinking, "Awww, we have to face reality and keep blacks on welfare, and pay out more social security benefits to people who never worked, and more programs to save the spotted owl. We can't help it." :roll:

It is amazing, that you wanna throw your American partisan talking points at a South African, that's not what I'm talking about.

Republican administrations have historically overspent as well.

And besides, why do you libs always have to play the race card ;)
 
It just seems reckless to me, but maybe it's a stunt the GOP is trying to pull to look good, because they probably know it would never be amended under Obama.

let him veto, it's entirely his prerogative
 
There is nothing stopping any of them from working together to balance a budget...well except they can't possibly be seen working with each other.

there are fundamental ideological divides of approach separating both our reps and their constituents

that is, the politics of the plays are not entirely unprincipled
 
I have had this discussion before with those who invoke the founding fathers as some sort of right wing ideologies. Fact is taxing is one of the first things the 1st congress did. And starting the first bank. Then they taxed whiskey. The compromise of 1790 was designed to have the federal gov. assume the debt of the states. None of which fits into the rights view of the founding fathers. You should perhaps read about the first congress and the other Early bills they passed before invoking them so much.

yes, your examples are correct

alexander hamilton foresaw that establishing a bank and honoring our debts would connect the interests of the moneyed to the ongoing stability of the federal experiment

it's probably one of the big reasons our revolution generally succeeded while the storming of the bastille on july 14, 1789 led to chaos and ultimately ennui

that said, most conservatives with whom i communicate respect the need for a limited govt as well as a viable social safety net

progressives more generally advocate for an activist dc

be honest
 
Is there any numbers that show that democrats spend more then republicans?

well, there's obama's 2012 budget (which, by the way, he appears to have abandoned)

for starters
 
as opposed to the GOP whose ideology is concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.....?

class warfare is such a petty pursuit, it's based on envy, it's divisive, it pits one group of americans against another

in other words, more power to you

take care
 
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This is the Republicans trying to keep their more ignorant supporters energized for them, while doing nothing real toward the goal those supporters support.

our attempts to get this budget under control are not confined to bba, nor are they limited to political demonstrations of principle

boehner's house, for example, DID pass hr1

the senate has moved SQUAT

the president is gutlessly SILENT

meanwhile, a bombshell, fyi:

ryan, our BUDGET CHAIR, is gonna go public TUESDAY

Republican budget: GOP budget would revamp Medicare and Medicaid - KTXL

FOUR POINT FOUR TRIL!

MAJOR ENTITLEMENT REFORM!

ALL THREE---SOCIAL SECURITY AND BOTH M'S!

now, THERE'S leadership!

because when the BUDGET CHAIR gets it thru COMMITTEE (which he will), his position becomes gop IMPRIMATUR!

demagogue THAT, dems

how many kids have we killed today?

seeya at the polls, progressives

in CALIFORNIA

and NEW YORK
 
we're in three

obama, by the way, ESCALATED afghanistan

your point? didn't it NEED to be escalated, according to the generals? isn't the War on Terrorism the only war we should be fighting?
 
The GOP has never come close to balancing a budget, likewise DEM's, not in modern history, or since 1835
It is claimed that Clinton pulled that particular rabbit out of the hat, but detractors using their own accounting methods dispute it.
Their sincerity in such matters is questionable.
 
With the support of the right who put all their support behind Patreaus. They wanted the surge and they got it.
we're in three

obama, by the way, ESCALATED afghanistan
 
Resurection is a wonderful thing. Every couple of years after the right has screwed the pooch they re-emerge and are pure again. But the left is always the same. How handy for the right. It's like collective amnesia.
 
Resurection is a wonderful thing. Every couple of years after the right has screwed the pooch they re-emerge and are pure again. But the left is always the same. How handy for the right. It's like collective amnesia.

The GOP leadership does know its voter base, gotta give them credit for that....
 
They shouldn't be represented by an elephant because elephants never forget. Republicans forget every two years like clockwork.
The GOP leadership does know its voter base, gotta give them credit for that....
 
obama, by the way, ESCALATED afghanistan

Which he should have done. Which is exactly why there shouldn't be a balanced budget amendment, because you need to be able to go into debt to do what needs to be done sometimes. I'm not advocating unbridled spending on anything and everything, but a Constitutional amendment puts a really big barrier in the way of doing what's necessary.

Picture this: we get attacked (which we were on 9/11), and need to respond with force (which we needed to do in Afghanistan). BUT...we can't mobilize the army because the Constitution forbids us from going into debt. Now we have to quickly repeal the amendment (which isn't a fast or easy thing to do) before we can go to war. That's a bad situation.
 
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