Joseph Knollenberg: “while much of the discussion here today has focused on the ``balanced'' in balanced budget amendment, the Kyle amendment…”

“while much of the discussion here today has focused on the ``balanced'' in balanced budget amendment, the Kyle amendment adds a new and very important dimension to this debate: basic economics. For the last 40 years, Federal tax revenue has remained at 19 percent of GDP year in and year out. If you think about it, this is a truly amazing fact. Immediately after World War II, the top marginal tax rate in America was 94 percent. Yet total revenues stayed at that 19 percent figure. Even when Ronald Reagan slashed marginal rates by 25 percent in 1981, revenues remained constant at that same 19 percent. Besides making an almost airtight case for supply-side economics, this statistic illustrates an inherent equilibrium in our tax structure. It shows exactly how much Government the American economy will bear. However, the spending side of the picture is bleak. Since about 1955, Federal spending has departed from that 19 percent figure, and has grown steadily higher ever since. Today, spending equal 25 percent of our GDP. Mr. Chairman, it doesn't take a math professor to figure out that we simply cannot continue to spend more than we take in. A balanced budget amendment brings sanity back to the level of Federal spending and frankly, it's a provision that every one of our constituents live by every day of their lives.”