Colorado Congressional Candidate With a Spine

Colorado Springs Gazette ^ | June 4, 2006 | Ed Sealover

[jebanks]

If there is one issue that the six Republicans and one Democrat running for Congress agree on, it is the need to reform the federal budget and cut government spending.

The question is how to do it.

Each candidate seeking to replace retiring GOP 5th Congressional District Rep. Joel Hefley has criticized the cost of government. Republican Jeff Crank last week laid out the first extensive budget reform and spending plan.

Some themes emerge when the candidates discuss the subject. Everyone — including Democrat Jay Fawcett — backs a balanced budget amendment, and everyone thinks there are at least some areas where

the government can be trimmed.

“After the war on terror, the second most important issue facing America today is the immoral spending that occurs by our federal government,” said Crank, former vice president of the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.

[ThreePuttinDude]

“After the war on terror, the second most important issue facing America
today is the immoral spending that occurs by our federal government,”

[old republic]

How would such a balanced budget amendment work? What is to stop Congress from declaring everyday items to be "emergency spending" and just spend the money anyway? With expanding expenditures such as Social Security and Medicare, how can the government cut expenditures without cutting the programs themselves? (Though, technically it is probably unconstitutional to for the federal government to run programs like SS and medicare they do anyway so we will probably have to continue to deal with that fact.) Is such a balanced budget amendment workable under such circumstanes or will it be another part of the Constitution that is just consistently violated?

[misterrob]

Republican Jeff Crank ......

Now that's a good name to go throughout life with!!!