Eva M. Clayton: “democracy means majority rule, but it also means government of, by, and for the people. In the context of democracy…”

“democracy means majority rule, but it also means government of, by, and for the people. In the context of democracy, there are two things that trouble me greatly about the Barton constitutional amendment for a balanced budget. First, the resolution seems to trample on the right of the people to know under what burdens they must suffer at the hands of the Government. The resolution, second, seems to ignore the sacredness of the Constitution of the United States. On one occasion, President John Adams spoke of the right to know. He said, ``Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people who have a right to know.'' That right, he said, ``is indisputable, unalienable, infeasible, and devine.'' Passage of the proposed Barton constitutional amendment in its current form denies the people the right to know. In order to achieve a balanced budget by the year 2002, as provided in the amendments, an amendment must provide that we must make those hard cuts. $1.2 trillion will have to be cut in a range of entitlement programs alone. Why will not the majority tell us how those cuts will be made? These are not social security alone, there are other entitlements beyond social security. If the tax cuts envisioned are made, indeed we must make cuts beyond that. More than $450 million in additional cuts would be made. That will mean farmers in my State and rural communities, water sewage, all of those projects will be subject to cut.”