William Helms: “there are two disappointing things to mention today. The first is my regular daily report on the latest available…”

“there are two disappointing things to mention today. The first is my regular daily report on the latest available disclosure of the total Federal debt, this time as of the close of business yesterday, Wednesday, March 1, stood at $4,848,389,816.26. If this debt were to be paid off today, with every man, woman, and child in the country paying his or her proportionate share, each of us would have to fork over $18,404.57. Of course, since millions of Americans pay no taxes at all, the average share of the Federal debt would be far greater than the per capita amount referred to above. The other sad thing? It is, of course, the Senate's failure today to approve a constitutional amendment requiring Congress to balance the Federal budget. If just one more Senator had voted today in favor of the amendment, it would have been approved by 67 Senators, exactly enough to pass the amendment and send it to the 50 States for ratification. Don't look for a balanced Federal budget anytime soon. But one day it will come. The American people will demand it. REDUCE THE DEFICIT WITHOUT AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION”