In theory, with a very few limited exceptions, it sounds like a good idea. In reality, it has not an ice cube’s chance in hell of happening and is nothing more than political cover. Beyond that, if it did somehow miraculously happen, they would find a way to ignore or get around it.

Personally, I have a few other pet rules I’d like to see:

1) Our legislators have a set deadline to pass the budget. If they fail to pass the budget timely, then for the entire time they are late they are not paid. No salary, no per diem, no nothing. And they don’t get deferred, they lose that money and can’t get it back later.

2) No more omnibus “let’s cram so much crap in here nobody has any clue what’s in it.” laws. Each law does one thing, and one thing only.

3) I doubt we could get this one, but for every new law added (subject to the above limitation), X old laws must be repealed (for this, one omnibus train wreck counts as one law). I used to think that 3 was a good number, but it quickly became 5. I’m leaning toward 15 or more now...

No surprises in the responses so far.

I think I’m more pissed that my Senator responded to my email to him with this nonsense than I am for him voting to pass the spending bill.

US Budget Deficit Soars 77% As Federal Interest Expense Hits Record High

Another month, another frightening jump in the US budget deficit.

According to the latest Treasury data, the US budget surplus in January - traditionally one of the few surplus months of the year due to its tax receipts timing - was only $9 billion, badly missing the $25 billion surplus expected, and far below the $49 billion surplus recorded last January; it was the smallest January gain since 2015.

As a result, the budget deficit for the first four months of the fiscal year, widened to $310 billion, a whopping 77% higher than the $175.7 billion reported for the same period last year, largely the result of the revenue hit from Trump's tax cuts and the increase in government spending. The deficit was the result of a 2% drop in fiscal YTD receipts to $1.1 trillion, while spending jumped 9% to $1.4 trillion.

The jump in the deficit was despite the bump in customs duties, which almost doubled to about $24.5 billion this fiscal year from $12.6 billion a year ago, reflecting the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese imports.

What was more concerning perhaps is that rolling 12 month receipts declined 1.5% Y/Y, after posting a 0.4% drop last month which marked the first decline since March 2017. Worse, the absolute drop in tax receipts, which declined for both corporations and individuals, was the biggest since the financial crisis; and, as shown in the chart below, every time that receipts have posted an annual decline, a recession either followed shortly or had already arrived.

Unfortunately, since receipts are set to decline even more in the coming months, the overall budget deficit is set to widen further in the coming years as the Republican tax cut package and increased spending for defense and other priorities boost government outlays. Some policy makers and economists are flagging concern about the growing debt burden, saying it risks America’s credit quality among borrowers, while other economists see more room to run.

According to the CBO, the budget deficit in fiscal 2019 will widen to $897 billion, up by $118 billion from a year earlier; any economic recession will result in a far greater number.

Finally, and perhaps most concerning, is that for the first four months of this fiscal year, interest payments on the U.S. national debt hit $192 billion, $17 billion, or 10% more than in the same four-month period last year and the most interest ever paid in the first third of the fiscal year. As Reuters' Jeoff Hall points out, annualizing the $192BN interest expense means that the interest on U.S. public debt is on track to reach a record $575 billion this fiscal year, more than the entire budget deficit in FY 2014 ($483 BN) or FY 2015 ($439 BN), and equates to 2.7% of estimated GDP, the highest percentage since 2011.



https://www.zerohedge.com/news...nse-hits-record-high

It would 'feel good' until congress figured out an easier way to get around it.

Government is just too big and spends too much.
Take a look at this list of US Government Departments and Agencies. It is too large to post here.

https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/a

Then throw in all the welfare for illegals and people who won't work.

quote:

Originally posted by Hamden106:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
First, term limits. Two terms, no seniority.

I have heard that the resulting turnover would end up stacking the congress with libs too much. But just as much chance for the other way.

I am afraid that it opens the door for more deep state running of things. Congressional staffers could wield even more power behind the scenes than they do now.



.

No. And if the congress can't balance the budget, do you think such an amendment has a snowball's chance of making through there either?

Oh, and maybe you're thinking constitutional convention, bypassing congress. Forget about that also. State legislatures love federal money. It's money they can spend on their voters, without getting blamed for raising their voters taxes. Anything that threatens to stop that gravy train will get shot down quickly.

Yes, this is the Japanese way. The politicritters are basically figure heads. The bureacritters in the ministries actually run the country.

quote:

Originally posted by TigerDore:

quote:

Originally posted by Hamden106:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
First, term limits. Two terms, no seniority.

I have heard that the resulting turnover would end up stacking the congress with libs too much. But just as much chance for the other way.

I am afraid that it opens the door for more deep state running of things. Congressional staffers could wield even more power behind the scenes than they do now.



.

We've already seen that congresscritters know nothing of the Constitution, don't read it, wouldn't understand, and would ignore it anyway.

Nope.

1. Congress benies exactly like regular citizens.
2. Single issue legislation or line item veto.
3. Teeth in an office of "how much did that hammer actually cost?"

Anyone who thinks this would do anything... needs to buy some oceanfront property in AZ...

How about we start with the “if you don’t follow the constitution, we all get to smack
You upside the head with the end of a fishing rod amendment and go from there.

What are the consequences? Are you going to trust the politicians to draft legislation for their own punishment?

Regarding spending and our government, the only amendment I'd like to see ( not sure & don't care if its 'legal') would be:
No public expenditures in the current fiscal year may aggregately exceed the revenue collected by all means from the previous year; and the government may not in any form borrow money from any source nor may monies be loaned or reallocated to another department after the budget is accepted

Line. Item. Veto.

I'll beat this drum as long as I draw breath.

It's only getting worse...

Federal Spending Sets Record Through April
May 10, 2019

(CNSNews.com) - The federal government spent $2,573,708,000,000 in the first seven months of fiscal 2019 (October through April), setting an all-time record for real federal spending in the first seven months of a fiscal year, according to data published in the Monthly Treasury Statements.

Prior to this fiscal year, the most that the federal government had ever spent in the first seven months of a fiscal year was in fiscal 2011, when it spent $2,476,257,690,000 in constant April 2019 dollars (adjusted using the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator).



Federal spending in the first seven months of this fiscal year exceeded the previous record by $97,450,310,000.

At the same time that the Treasury was spending the most it has ever spent in the first seven months of a fiscal year, it also ran a deficit of $530,870,000,000.

With April 15 as the deadline for filing tax returns, the month of April is ordinarily a boom time for federal tax collections—and this year was no exception. The Treasury collected $535,545,000,000 in total taxes during the month compared to $228,811,000,000 in March and $167,265,000,000 in February.

But even with the April boost in tax revenue, this fiscal year's real total tax revenues, real individual income tax revenues, and real corporation income tax revenues have lagged behind last year's numbers.

In the first seven months of this fiscal year, the Treasury collected $2,042,838,000,000 in total taxes. In the first seven months of last year, it collected $2,047, 528,550,000 (in constant April 2019 dollars).

In the first seven months of this fiscal year, the Treasury collected $1,056,637,000,000 in individual income taxes. In the first seven months of last fiscal year, it collected $1,071,575,620,000 (in constant April 2019 dollars)

In the first seven months of this fiscal year, the Treasury collected $112,676,000,000 in corporation income taxes. In the first seven months of last fiscal year, it collected $123,186,200,000 (in constant April 2019 dollars).

During the first seven months of this fiscal year, while the federal government was setting a record for spending, the Department of Health and Human Services spent $687,794,000,000, which was the most of any federal agency. The Social Security Administration spent $632,776,000,000, which was the second most. The Department of Defense spent $377,464, which was the third most.

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/a...record-through-april