(Alexandria, VA) –Today, the President of the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union, DuaneParde, sent a letter to Congress calling for a Balanced Budget Amendment, astatutory spending cap without any tax increases, and repeal of the 2010 healthcare “reform” law as conditions for taxpayers to stomach an increase in thedebt ceiling.
A strong Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) is a necessity aselected officials have failed to contain a rapidly inflating federal budgetover the past decade. NTU supports several BBA proposals, most prominent amongthem S.J. Res. 10 introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and co-sponsored byall 47 Republican Senators, and H.J. Res. 56 introduced by Representative JoeWalsh (R-IL) in the House. The measure incorporates a Congressional“supermajority” vote requirement for any tax increase, a spending limit, and abalanced budget requirement.
Ratification of a BBA by the required 38 states may takeyears, and thus, NTU contends, short-term spending restraint is needed as well.Spending limitations similar to the proposed “CAP Act” put forth by SenatorsBob Corker (R-TN) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) will begin to restore a moreresponsible level of federal spending with a spending cap at 20.6 percent ofGross Domestic Product (GDP). NTU supports a limit at the post-war historicalrevenue average of 18 percent of GDP.
The recent reckless increase in government spending hascreated the mess that has led to the current debate over an increase in the$14.4 trillion debt ceiling. Revenues are not the problem. Thus, taxes must notbe raised in a futile attempt to keep up with the rapidly inflating federalbudget.
Some may argue that the debt ceiling must be raised to avoidcatastrophe. However, boosting the debt ceiling while not addressing the rootproblem – overspending – may lead to a disaster of its own: investors demandingpremiums for holding American debt or just walking away from it.
“What good is increasing the debt ceiling if nothing is done to curb thereckless spending that will perpetually test any limit on borrowing, no matterhow high?” said NTU President Duane Parde. “If Congress fails to enactshort-term and long-term restraints on the growth of all federal spending,including health and other entitlement programs, NTU will vigorously oppose anincrease in the debt ceiling as irresponsible in the extreme.”
The362,000-member NTU is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working for lowertaxes, smaller government, and economic freedom at all levels. More informationon NTU’s work is available at www.ntu.org.