Without the “B” part there’s no teeth in the bill. “CC” when carried forward over the next decade would easily be ignored/altered by the then elected congress. The “Balance” part as envisioned as a constitutional amendment (read “Law”) would require any and all congresses to fulfill their responsibilities.
“Without the “B” part there’s no teeth in the bill”
There’s no way to get a balanced budget amendment out of this Congress.
It can’t happen.
The passage of a Constitutional amendment ABSOLUTELY REQUIRES the votes of 2/3 of the House of Representatives and 2/3 of the Senate.
The Senate is controlled by democrats who will never — let me repeat that for emphasis, NEVER — permit such an amendment to go forward. They wouldn’t vote for it if there was constant rioting in the streets outside.
Again, it’s not going to happen in 2011, or in 2012, for that matter.
Here’s a quote for you:
“Reality is what it is. It is NOT what we believe it to be.”
That’s perhaps the most “conservative” statement I’ve ever heard. Before we can deal with reality, we must first understand what the realities in front of us are.
And the reality is that it is impossible to pass a balanced budget amendment without sufficient CongressCritters who believe in such a concept and who will vote for it.
We don’t have the numbers at this time. It’s doubtful we may EVER have those numbers.
That’s the reality of the situation.
When “Plan A” isn’t going to work for you, better come up with a “Plan B”.
The only possible “Plan B” that is going to pass Congress is for the House to drop the BBA and come up with a reasonable and workable plan to “cap the spending” and that outlines a plan for cuts across the board.
Do this, and you _might_ persuade two more ‘rats to switch sides and sign on.
But with the BBA?
Forgeddaboutit.
Just confrontin’ reality....