In just a few days, the bipartisan supercommittee of Congress must recommend a plan to cut at least $1.2 trillion from our national deficit or force us to face even deeper automatic cuts to federal programs — including defense.
This painful exercise to drastically cut spending is necessary because we face a $15 trillion debt that threatens our economy and our national security. And it was spurred on by a congressional “buy now, pay later” budgeting philosophy.
The very fact that we’re at this point illustrates the need for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Coloradans tell me they’re fed up with the broken system in Washington, which has racked up our out-of-control debt. We need to ensure we never get into this situation again.
The House of Representatives has already voted — and the Senate will soon vote — on a balanced budget amendment as required by a provision in the same legislation that formed the supercommittee. Various versions of the constitutional amendment have been proposed, including one I introduced — the first introduced by a Senate Democrat in years — that I believe most reflects what Coloradans and Americans want.
Amending the Constitution isn’t a step I take lightly, but I believe Congress has proven that such a step is critical to our economic future. Congress faces constant pressure to deliver more programs, services and infrastructure, while at the same time reducing the tax burden Americans shoulder. Economists of all backgrounds are now telling us that the bill for the federal programs Americans hold dear has come due — and is about to get more expensive as the baby-boom generation enters retirement. Yet Democrats and Republicans are still stuck in the same rhetorical trenches. Democrats rail against cuts to entitlements, while Republicans continue to protect special-interest tax breaks that only make our deficit worse.
Before we do anything else, we must take steps to cut spending and reduce our debt. I have fought for responsible budget tools, such as presidential line-item veto authority, pay-as-you-go spending rules, and a process by which Congress would regularly evaluate government spending and identify wasteful programs we could cut to save money. I also led a bipartisan effort to create a commission on debt reduction, headed by former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson. The commission has offered Congress a common-sense plan to lower the debt by more than $4 trillion over the next decade. We need to take up and pass that plan immediately, or risk the same debt-induced economic turmoil that is now shaking Europe.
But the situation we face proves that we need a balanced solution: one that holds our government accountable to pay its bills, but doesn’t strangle our economy in the process. Most importantly, it would prevent us from slipping back into this mess again in the future. The constitutional amendment that I have proposed would create strict requirements for balancing our books, and only allow deficits when three-fifths of the House and Senate vote to address economic downturns or other emergencies. It would also discourage deficit-busting special interest tax breaks and create a Social Security lockbox, preventing Congress from raiding the trust fund to hide the true size of our annual deficits — something it has done for decades.
Enshrining the requirement for a balanced budget in the Constitution gives it permanence and requires Congress to undertake responsible budgeting — something Coloradans want from their lawmakers.
Responsible budgeting requires big bites at the apple and difficult decisions. We should start with a balanced and comprehensive plan to reduce our existing debt. But if we hope to continue to be able to provide care for seniors and veterans, repair our roads and bridges, and keep our communities safe for generations to come, we need a new solution that requires Congress to pay for what it spends and prevents us from racking up further debt.
Congress should take advantage of the opportunity we have before us to pass a common-sense balanced-budget amendment so we’re never again forced to take painful steps to stabilize our budget.
U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., lives in Eldorado Springs.
