October 4, 1978

Balanced Budget Aim Of Constitution Convention

Let's forget the so called "tax revolt" and get down to business - limit government spending.

Cutting taxes is heady wine, but there inevitably will be a morning after.  Taxpayers troop to the polls to approve Propositions 13, but the public opinion surveys made as citizens emerge from the voting booths indicate no one wants basic government services cut very much.

It's not taxes that drive Americans up the wall; it is waste and inefficiency which they equate - rightfully - with runaway inflation.

Inflation is exactly equal to the national debt.  That debt has gone up by $20 to $70 billion annually, about $40 billion for this year and an equal amount next year.  Stop the federal deficits and you will stop inflation.

Whether through ignorance or wishful thinking, Americans have ignored this fundamental tenet of economics for four decades.  Now that the credit line has been run to the limit, and the everyday standard of living is starting to sink, we are beginning to appreciate reality.

It is time to set priorities.  Some government handouts can be saved - maybe most - but there is no question that some things have got to go.

Social Security probably heads our list of "musts," but the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) is a rip-off.  Schools should be improved, but racial bussing has proven counter productive.  Unemployment compensation to mitigate hardship is accepted, but its present high level encourages sloth.

Politicians are discovering that voters are capable of making wise decisions on basic issues.

In Ohio the citizenry defeated instant voter registration by a two to one majority after a lop-sided Assembly majority tried to cram it down our throats.

As spend-thrift legislators in California built up a huge surplus for projected social activist projects, the electorate took back the power their representatives abused.

A grass-roots recall drive in Cleveland came within a few hundred votes unseating Mayor Dennis Kucinich.  And an impeachment drive to remove School Bussing Judge Frank Battisti is picking up steam.

In the upcoming elections 16 states will have voter-inspired initiative referendums to decide on a variety of important questions the politicians would not touch.  Popular referendums deal with proposals to limit government spending by limiting the tax money available.

The most interesting proposals have been little noted, but pack the biggest potential for getting a handle on irresponsible government - calls for a U.S. Constitutional Convention.

There has never been such a convention, though the Constitution provides the machinery for review.  Congress has ducked diminution of its sled-length powers ever since the Constitution was written.  Yet the Founding Fathers clearly saw the need to occasionally rein an unbridled legislature.

Quietly, backers of a Constitutional Convention have been moving to limiting government spending by winning initiative referendums in 22 states.  Only 12 more states need to issue the calls - a couple of these are on the November ballot - and the first limit in two centuries on Congressional spending can be carved into stone.

Representatives who will not exercise prudent stewardship of our hard-earned paychecks and carefully saved investment money, may soon be elbowed aside.  In the time-honored American tradition, the citizens will do it for themselves.

Proponents of the Constitutional Convention have one aim, and it is simple but effective - require by law that the federal budget be balanced every year.

The liberals would have us believe such a demand is impossible and-or unreasonable for the federal government.

Nonsense.

That's what they said when Ohio and two other states adopted a balanced-budget law years ago.  It's the principal thing that has kept Ohio on an even financial keel.  It forces the legislature to choose its expenditures very carefully, but Ohio still receives adequate state services.

By the very nature of politics, an unrestrained Congress is incapable of financial discipline.  People want needs and desires fulfilled.  Those who promise free lunches get elected.  Those who advocate blood, sweat and tears finish last.

President Gerald Ford, during his brief administration, was astounded by Congressmen who voted huge spending bills then called him on the phone to urge him to veto the appropriation.  Ford did just that seventeen times, and left office with a 4.8 percent inflation rate.

Carter promised a balanced budget, but as a Democratic president with a Democratic Congress he is unable to deny the political instinct to tax and tax, spend and spend, elect and elect.

There is only one solution, therefore - save the politicians from themselves by making it Constitutional law that they balance the budget.  A recent Gallup pole disclosed that 81 percent of Americans favored a constitutional amendment to do this.

With the goody jar sealed, Congress can get down to the business of running the country instead of running for office.

Author: Lindsey Williams