Ron Kind: “Today I rise in support of H.J. Res. 2, the Balanced Budget Amendment. The Balanced Budget Amendment is now the only…”

“Today I rise in support of H.J. Res. 2, the Balanced Budget Amendment. The Balanced Budget Amendment is now the only check on the last decade Republican fiscal mismanagement. It is a practical solution to the last decade of Republican irresponsible spending. Of course, the easier response than going through the process of amending the U.S. Constitution is reinstituting pay-as-you-go budgeting rules, which I fully support. Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues do not. Pay-as-you-go budgeting led our country into the healthy economic dynamic we saw in the 1990's under President Clinton. It, too, forced us to make tough decisions about our spending, but led to four years of budget surpluses, 27 million private sector jobs, and excess payments on our national debt. Unfortunately, the Republicans squandered all of that away as they recklessly cast aside fiscal discipline to enter two wars, enact two large tax cuts, and increase entitlement spending, all of which were not paid for. And all of which transformed our country from one with a budget surplus to one with a $1.5 trillion budget deficit in just eight short years. I share my colleagues' concerns about the requirement for a supermajority to raise the debt ceiling in light of the irresponsible actions of House Republicans earlier this year when they nearly forced the U.S. Government into default. We must act with fiscal responsibility and attention to long-term deficit reduction.…”