just in response to one item mentioned by my friend from Tennessee. He and I agree on Social Security. We differ on the Reid amendment. When he talks about 110 percent of debt versus GDP in 1945 after World War II, what that ignores is…

first, two points made by my friend--and he is my friend--from Nevada, Senator Reid, on the language of our amendment. We have gone over this carefully in all kinds of hearings. The only language change is the Danforth language on judicial…

I will yield myself 1 minute simply to commend my colleague from Maine for his excellent, logical remarks. And particularly, he is a wordsmith. When he comes up with a phrase, 'fiscal child abuse,' that is precisely what we are doing. We…

let me respond just very briefly to my friend and colleague, Senator Kennedy, in his brief remarks. When he says this will result in the President having authority to impound, there is not one word in this amendment that gives the…

The National Taxpayers Union just released a poll done of 1,000 Americans asking about this constitutional amendment: Favoring it, 67 percent; opposing it, 18 percent. That is almost 4 to 1. That simply underscores it. Then, in terms of…

I have indicated already I think it has just massive loopholes in it, in what is called capital expenditures, and the fact that it has no enforcement mechanism. My staff has checked out the loophole for periods of low economic growth and…

Such an amendment would be a political mistake. It would allow a mere 40 out of 100 senators and a similar minority in the House to block legislation that would create a deficit. And because the amendment includes no enforcement procedure…

Absolutely not. And the argument that we are taking away Presidential prerogative is not valid. The President has the obligation to submit a balanced budget. But the President may very well say, because of circumstances, we are in a…

The answer is that it would, and that is why we have that flexibility. We do not go as far as Thomas Jefferson wanted to go. He wanted to absolutely prohibit any Federal Government borrowing.

The answer is that we could, but the argument that my colleague from Michigan makes is precisely the opposite of the argument that we have been hearing over and over and over again on the floor. Some of my colleagues say this is too tough…

In terms of Social Security, the person who made the point that a balanced budget amendment is the basic protection that is needed by the Social Security system was the chief actuary for the Social Security System for 23 years. I point…

first of all, I congratulate my colleague on becoming a grandfather. I am pleased to have him join the ranks. Talk about taxation without representation, that little grandchild of yours faces that.

I will just comment for 3 minutes on the speech by my colleague from Arkansas. Then I want to yield to the Senator from Pennsylvania. First of all, 80 percent of what he had to say, believe it or not, supports the balanced budget amendment…

Forget GAO projections and all the others. Look at the lifetime net tax rates under alternative policies. Under OMB figures in that budget they just gave us, tax rates for someone my age, 1930--I was born in 1928--but let us say 1930 are…

It says that someone born when I was born, 1930--I was born in 1928, I will spend about 30 percent of my lifetime income on taxation. But when you get down to future generations and, if you assume every projection in terms of their…

The answer is we will occasionally do so, and for those who say what about a recession, since 1962 we have had 11 stimulus packages pass the U.S. Senate. All of them passed with more than 60 votes.

First, I want to comment on the observations of the majority leader, for whom I have great respect, when he said we are putting this off to the year 2001 so no one here will have to act on it. Senator Feinstein was one of those who talked…

I think he has made an important point; this amendment is introduced for political cover only.

First, on what Senator Simpson says about those of us who are sponsoring this, there was a release by the National Taxpayers Union that took cosponsorship of legislation and added that up, and I looked like a huge spender because, among…

I would like to put anybody on notice that there will be an amendment offered by my friend and colleague, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. Senator Reid, in my opinion, is one of the finest Members of this body. He has shown courage; he does…

It is designed so that Members of the Senate who under pressure from the administration or because of persuasion from Senator Byrd or whatever other reason, they want to vote against Senate Joint Resolution 41, the real thing, but they…

Senator Metzenbaum has just illustrated why it is going to be a great loss not to have him in the U.S. Senate. I happened, back many years ago, to have served in military intelligence when I was in the Army. I think the bill he offers…

let me make one other point that I should have made to Senator Conrad earlier when I talked about countercyclical effect. I mentioned that those who now receive the $293 billion in interest are more likely to save the money than someone…

Let me tell you the rationale. First, originally, when I drafted my first balanced budget amendment, I included that, interestingly. The reality is that we do have a surplus at this point right now in Social Security. I would like to…

My colleague is absolutely on target. The cases are very rare. There have been a few, but they are rare indeed. So the combination of that experience, plus the other amendment should really preclude any problem along this line.