J. Exon: “Mr. President, I am very disappointed by this constitutional balanced budget amendment charade staged by the majority.…”

“Mr. President, I am very disappointed by this constitutional balanced budget amendment charade staged by the majority. My colleagues know that I am a staunch and dogged supporter of a balanced Federal budget and a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. I have not changed in my resolve but quite obviously others have. There is something to be said for consistency and political honesty even during a political campaign. Up until very recently, I thought that if you favored one, you had to support the other. They clearly go hand-in-hand. But that was before the political shenanigans evidently brought about by election-year politics. But watching the majority leader and the majority party become the new high priests of what George Bush called voodoo economics has caused me to question whether the Republicans sincerely want a balanced budget at all or just a meaningless campaign issue. Advocating a balanced budget amendment while advocating fiscal policy that makes it impossible to function is ludicrous.”