BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT

WHEREAS, the United States Congress has rejected, but may reconsider a constitutional amendment that would mandate a balanced federal budget; and

WHEREAS, such an amendment would require the government’s income and outlay of funds to be balanced every year, and this would require substantial increases in taxes or severe cuts in expenditures; and

WHEREAS, a 1976 study by the Joint Economic Committee found that a balanced budget amendment would worsen a recession by reducing economic growth, increasing unemployment and accelerating inflation; and

WHEREAS, if the balanced budget amendment were in effect today, a combination of spending cuts and/or increased taxes totalling close to $400 billion would be required during the next two years, inevitably throwing the country into deep recession or depression; and

WHEREAS, a balanced budget amendment would impose major cuts in essential federal programs that are already underfunded and would prevent Congress from ameliorating the effects of a recession or depression by means such as unemployment compensation, social welfare and jobs programs; and

WHEREAS, merely adding words to the Constitution will not eliminate the difficult choices involved in establishing good programs and raising the necessary revenues; and

WHEREAS, a balanced budget amendment is nothing more than a gimmick for politicians to look good while failing to address the serious problems facing our country; and

WHEREAS, the three-fifths majority required to suspend the balanced budget amendment (other than for a declaration of war) is unwisely rigid and politically unworkable:

RESOLVED, that the AFT oppose any constitutional amendment that would arbitrarily require the federal budget to be balanced.