Latest / Brian Thomas / AFP - Balanced Budget Amendment

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AFP - Balanced Budget Amendment · Brian Thomas

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  Speaker 1: It's seven twenty nine, fifty five kre CD talk station
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  Speaker 1: at the able Wednesday listener Lunch priceil Chelly love to
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  Speaker 1: see you there and welcome back to the fifty five
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  Speaker 1: CARC Morning Show. His regular segment, I'm from Americans for Prosperity,
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  Speaker 1: Donovan and El Always great to have you on the show. Donovan,
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  Speaker 1: Welcome back for Ryan.
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  Speaker 2: Always great to be with you on Wednesday Morning.
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  Speaker 1: A concept that's been talked about, I think since I've
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  Speaker 1: been politically involved. I think that began around age sixteen,
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  Speaker 1: when I was in high school. Balanced budget amendment. It's
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  Speaker 1: been a pipe dream for a lot of conservative minded folks,
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  Speaker 1: a lot of budget conscious folks like myself, but never
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  Speaker 1: ever gotten off the ground. Will it happen this time?
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  Speaker 1: I understand John Housted has got a balanced budget amendment
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  Speaker 1: he's going to be introducing or has introduced. Now I've
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  Speaker 1: got an uphill challenge on this one, including ratification by
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  Speaker 1: the States, but it sounds like a good concept. Let's
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  Speaker 1: break it down, Donovan. How is this one? Maybe different
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  Speaker 1: from the prior ones, but how is this this going
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  Speaker 1: to work out?
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  Speaker 3: Well, it's pretty it's a pretty straightforward amendment. What it
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  Speaker 3: would do is it would require Congress within ten years
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  Speaker 3: of its ratification to achieve balance in between the expenditures
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  Speaker 3: and revenues of the federal government. Would not need to
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  Speaker 3: be done over a single year period. For example, here
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  Speaker 3: in Ohio we do a biennial budget process, right, we
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  Speaker 3: do it over two year window.
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  Speaker 2: And so you'd have a little bit of room. You'd
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  Speaker 2: also have.
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  Speaker 3: Where I think a lot of opponents attack a balanced
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  Speaker 3: budget amendment to the Constitution is emergency spending. And so
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  Speaker 3: there's an ability for Congress with I believe it two
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  Speaker 3: thirds vote to approve emergency spending. That would put the
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  Speaker 3: budget out of balance, but then they would need to
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  Speaker 3: start to work to put it back into balance. So
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  Speaker 3: it creates some more of a principles based approach to
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  Speaker 3: a balanced budget rather than the rigidity of saying the
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  Speaker 3: budget must be balanced on an annual basis.
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  Speaker 1: So no day one tear the band aid off, kind
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  Speaker 1: of fixed to this one.
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  Speaker 3: Correct And what that again? And I think the idea
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  Speaker 3: here is is neutralize a lot of the common opposition
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  Speaker 3: to a very practical, common sense policy solution.
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  Speaker 1: So in other words, I was wondering, I mean to me,
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  Speaker 1: in my mind, Donovan, this is a no brainer that
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  Speaker 1: you must live within your means and you shouldn't imperil
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  Speaker 1: the country's future by digging us into a hole that
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  Speaker 1: we have to pay debt service on, which is consuming
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  Speaker 1: more and more of those valuable limited taxpayer dollars. With that,
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  Speaker 1: the argument against something like this has always been but
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  Speaker 1: but but but, uh, you know we can't do that
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  Speaker 1: where you know these programs are all going to shut down.
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  Speaker 1: I just don't understand the how you can articulate an
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  Speaker 1: opposition to something that is so common sense, logical, and reasonable.
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  Speaker 1: So what are you hearing by way of pushback on this,
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  Speaker 1: or at least in the past, when these types of
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  Speaker 1: balanced budget amendments have been proposed, why haven't they moved
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  Speaker 1: forward in advance given that they seem so logical and reasonable.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think one of the biggest arguments is the
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  Speaker 3: the the DC insiders right, the proverbial swamp, where it is, hey,
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  Speaker 3: we need this flexibility, right, it's going to inhibit this
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  Speaker 3: program or it's gonna it's gonna keep us from spending
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  Speaker 3: in an emergency, And Brian, the emergencies are what have
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  Speaker 3: put us into the situation that we're in. Manufactured and otherwise.
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  Speaker 3: And so you know, when this was first what we
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  Speaker 3: really had an opportunity in the early nineties, with the
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  Speaker 3: wave of reform to get done. We were looking at
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  Speaker 3: a three trillion dollar national debt, right not no, And
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  Speaker 3: that was.
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  Speaker 1: A cry that was as you remember Reagan complaining when
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  Speaker 1: it was getting close to a trillion and talking about
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  Speaker 1: we can't keep this up. And we're like, wow, oh wow,
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  Speaker 1: longing for the days of a nine and ninety nine
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  Speaker 1: billion dollar devisit. Boy, wouldn't that be a good thing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Well, and you know, we only climbed to a meager
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  Speaker 3: five point six by the year two thousand, twelve years
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  Speaker 3: later and a half way through the first Obama term,
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  Speaker 3: sixteen trillion, and now we're at thirty eight trillion. I
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  Speaker 3: think what we have the opportunity here right to sort
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  Speaker 3: of push back against any any reasonable opposition to this
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  Speaker 3: is to say, look, this has been an issue that
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  Speaker 3: it's actually one of the most introduced constitutional amendments going
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  Speaker 3: back to the nineteen forties.
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  Speaker 2: This is something that both Democrats and.
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  Speaker 3: Republicans have historically supported, and there's never been a more
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  Speaker 3: burning platform or need for this reform than now as
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  Speaker 3: we hit thirty eight trillion in climbing with no end
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  Speaker 3: in sight.
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  Speaker 2: This is important.
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  Speaker 3: I know you get it, Brian, but this is an
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  Speaker 3: important amendment that would bring some physical sanity to Washington
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  Speaker 3: and put constraints on both Republicans and Democrats who need
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  Speaker 3: to put a Washington's fiscal house in order.
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  Speaker 1: All right, well, I'm going to gravitate over what in
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  Speaker 1: the hell constitutes an emergency. You know, we end up
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  Speaker 1: with this only go Obamacare. We have a healthcare emergency.
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  Speaker 1: We have a healthcare crisis. We need legislation, we need
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  Speaker 1: an inflation reduction Act so we can fund green progers.
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  Speaker 1: It would start screaming out loud about oh my god,
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  Speaker 1: people are dying in the streets, babies are being starved
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  Speaker 1: to death. We it's everything. Would be an emergency, wouldn't it.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, what's the protection in there to keep them?
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  Speaker 1: And you know them includes both Republicans and Democrats with
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  Speaker 1: their pet projects. They're the ones all collectively responsible for
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  Speaker 1: the thirty eight trillion dollars we got right now? What
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  Speaker 1: prevents them from just pretty much saying we're an emergency. Well,
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  Speaker 1: we have to balance the budget. But if we do that,
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  Speaker 1: then this program is to be slashed by oh, twenty
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  Speaker 1: five percent. It's an emergency because the twenty five percent
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  Speaker 1: or glean are getting money from the government, are going
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  Speaker 1: to be cut off from that money, and oh my god,
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  Speaker 1: they're going to die. You can hear that all day long,
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  Speaker 1: every day of the week.
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  Speaker 2: Oh absolutely well, without a doubt. And uh, you know
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  Speaker 2: where I think. You look at this and you say.
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  Speaker 3: It's that higher threshold, that requiring two thirds. And yes,
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  Speaker 3: swamp critters exist with both the red and the Blue
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  Speaker 3: team in Washington, d C. But creating that higher threshold
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  Speaker 3: creates an opportunity to for grassroots activists for considering supporters
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  Speaker 3: to apply more pressure. So I think what we would
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  Speaker 3: see out of this right compared to now where there
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  Speaker 3: is no limit, there is no cap I think you
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  Speaker 3: would have those more critical moments in time where Congress
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  Speaker 3: has to really deliberate and the American people have the
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  Speaker 3: opportunity to be heard on what actually constitutes an emergency. Well,
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  Speaker 3: we stop to do our job, Brian, right of the
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  Speaker 3: course the public that we live in of being engaged
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  Speaker 3: in contacting our senators and corsmen, but this will put
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  Speaker 3: that higher threshold on them, and they don't.
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  Speaker 2: Get to go out of They don't get to go beyond.
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  Speaker 3: Their means with our credit card until unless we uh,
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  Speaker 3: you know, they've got they've got to get more, more,
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  Speaker 3: more agreement in Washington, and we know that can also
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  Speaker 3: be a challenge at times.
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  Speaker 2: Well.
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  Speaker 1: And I do appreciate the fact that this emergency declaration
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  Speaker 1: will require two thirds from both the House and the Senate,
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  Speaker 1: at least in terms of a vote to declare an emergency,
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  Speaker 1: which is a pretty substantial hurdle given the division in
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  Speaker 1: our country. I can't imagine that they could get two
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  Speaker 1: thirds in both the House and the Senate, and the
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  Speaker 1: I guess the broader problem is if this goes through,
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  Speaker 1: if this is proposed, if it is voted forward, and
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  Speaker 1: it is submitted to the states, you have any t
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  Speaker 1: leaf reading on whether it would be ratified by the states,
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  Speaker 1: given how common sense it sounds.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think the good news here is what is it?
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  Speaker 3: Over half the states have already have a balanced budget
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  Speaker 3: amendment or balanced budget requirement. So right there, you've got
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  Speaker 3: twenty five out of thirty eight that you'd assume would
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  Speaker 3: be in the column here because it works for them,
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  Speaker 3: good enough for them, if you good enough for DC,
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  Speaker 3: and then with the other states.
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  Speaker 2: I think they see the dysfunction that happens in Washington.
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  Speaker 3: Having some physical sanity would be important. It's certainly an
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  Speaker 3: uphill battle, but I think across the country recognize you'll.
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  Speaker 2: Receive sixty seventy percent support and polling. Yeah, there's public
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  Speaker 2: opinion that backs this up as well.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm just waiting for the Republican governors to see
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  Speaker 1: the federal government contract and the dollars received from the
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  Speaker 1: federal government also contract impact their own state budgets when
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  Speaker 1: they start contemplating how this is all going to settle in.
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  Speaker 1: Donovan and Neil, Americans for prosperity. Any calls to action
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  Speaker 1: for my listeners before we part company this morning, Well.
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  Speaker 3: I think like always give Senator Eustain's office a call
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  Speaker 3: reach out Houston dot Senate dot GUV thank him for
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  Speaker 3: introducing such a big, bold proposal to help bring some
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  Speaker 3: fiscal sanity to Washington.
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  Speaker 1: Always worthy to thank you are your elected officials when
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  Speaker 1: they're actually doing a good thing. Donovan and Neil, thank
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  Speaker 1: you for the information. We'll talk again next Wednesday. Have
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful week between now and then, my friend, Thanks
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  Speaker 1: as always, Brian seven thirty eight, Right now,