Olathe , Kan. – Former State Rep. Patricia Lightner, Republican candidate for Congress in the 3rd District of Kansas, today announced that one of her first acts as Congresswoman would be to sponsor a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution.
With a national debt of $12 trillion dollars and with President Obama’s soaring deficits, Lightner said she thought the time was now to start enforcing the need for a balanced national checkbook.
"The current trend of unprecedented deficits and rising debt is unsustainable and threatens American prosperity, particularly for our children and grand children. With the massive budgets and out-of-control spending we’ve seen in recent years, particularly under President Obama, I believe now is the time to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment and make it a core part of our agenda going forward," said Lightner.
Lightner said that although she and other fellow conservatives will always fight for fiscal responsibility, the evidence is clear too many politicians will lose the way.
"Though it is unfortunate that our leaders in Washington would need a Constitutional enforcement mechanism to abide by the concept of not spending what we don’t have, I believe that the temptation for some to spend is clearly too strong and that a Constitutional Amendment is necessary," she said.
Lightner said the Amendment must require a two-thirds majority to increase taxes.
"Any Balanced Budget Amendment must have at its core a super-majority requirement to increase taxes. As leaders charged with the fiscal health of the United States, members of Congress must come to a balanced budget through reductions in government spending, not by increasing taxes on the backs of American families and businesses," said Lightner.
Lightner added that she believes that with leadership and effort the measure could pass, noting it fell just one vote short of passage in 1996.
“When Republicans were swept into office in 1994, a Balanced Budget Amendment was a centerpiece of our agenda and it nearly passed, prevailing in the House before failing by just one vote in the Senate. That one vote would have sent the measure to the states, where I believe it would have passed, given nearly all states have a Balanced Budget Amendment in their own Constitutions, “ said Lightner.
A Balanced Budget Amendment, which would be the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, as commonly proposed, would not allow the federal government to spend more than it collects each year. In limited circumstances, such as during a time of war, Congress can waive the balanced budget requirement with a two-thirds majority. The amendment also would make it more difficult for Congress to increase the burden on the taxpayer by requiring a two-thirds majority vote to raise taxes.
