Once again they will be trotting out that piece of raw sewage which I accurately refer to as "The Unbalanced Budget Amendment". Sponsored and touted by such notorious big spenders as Dick Armey, Newt Gingrich, and Phil Gramm it is devoid of honesty and will not stop the flow of red ink. It will steal (aka borrowing, but at lower than the interest rates earned by the taxes not paid for an honest balanced budget) from dedicated revenue funds to pay for the excesses of corporate welfare, some in the form of unpaid for (as per usual) and unneeded military spending for what amounts to an international "goon" squad. When the budget is finally "legally?" balanced there will be well over 100 billion in new debt added to the obligations of future generations. It will be interesting to see how the neoconservative media explains this one - or can they hide it forever as they have the link between deficit spending and military spending binges?

The Unbalanced Budget Amendment should be rejected, not for the "pain and anguish" of balancing (which should rightfully be borne out in higher taxes and severe cuts in corporate welfare - the beneficiaries of the congressional spending binges), but for the total lack of honesty. It is dishonest on the following matters:

*It legitimizes the use of dedicated revenue funds to pay for general fund spending. This is a practice that is illegal in most state budgets for obvious reasons.

*It holds down the returns from the investment of excess dedicated revenue funds. The SAFE return on investments is at least 2% higher than the interest accumulated from treasury bills; what would the Social Security and Medicare funds look like if these higher rates were factored in?

*It will not balance the budget - at least not in the sense that the accumulation of debt will cease. Even the Concord Coalition, which refuses to even mention military spending as a possible source of budget cuts, admits to a 125 billion dollar debt increase under a "balanced(?)" budget.

*It help to continue the fraudulent practice of NEVER raising taxes to actually PAY for military spending binges. This is helpful only in allowing the media to be successful in NEVER seriously questioning the basis of military spending which is the 4L war

. With the ability to raise taxes or cut benefits elsewhere to fund military spending at levels far above what's actually needed few taxpayers ever get concerned about this significant niche of government spending.

Unfortunately, the number of honest congresspersons who are not bought and paid for by the corporate interests who benefit from the lack of dialogue is small indeed. Instead of a serious discussion on getting an honest balanced budget we will hear all sorts of gobbledygook about "excessive cuts" and the need for a constitutional amendment. It's really quite unfortunate.

11/13/96

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