Weekly Opinion Editorial

CAN’T SAY NO!
by Steve Fair

A balanced- budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring government to not spend more than its income. It would require a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government. Every state in America, except Vermont, has some form of a balanced budget amendment.
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The U.S. federal government does not have a balanced budget amendment, but with the debt ceiling debate, there is a lot of talk of passing one. But getting a balanced budget amendment is a long and tedious process.
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There are two methods spelled out in Article five of the US Constitution on how to amend the founding document. The first is for the bill to pass both the US House and Senate and then go to the fifty state legislatures where it must be ratified by three fourths- 38- of the states.
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The second method- which has never been done- is for 2/3 of the state legislatures to call for a Constitutional Convention and propose one or more amendments. Ratification must still be by ¾ of the states.
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The Supreme Court has stated amendment ratification must be within "some reasonable time after the proposal." Beginning with the 18th amendment, it has been customary for Congress to set a definite period for ratification. In the case of the 18th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd amendments, the period set was 7 years, but there has been no determination as to just how long a "reasonable time" might extend.
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Of the thousands of proposals that have been made to amend the U.S. Constitution, only 33 obtained the necessary two-thirds vote in Congress. Of those 33, only 27 amendments (including the Bill of Rights) have been ratified.
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One state ready to ratify a balanced budget amendment is Oklahoma. Sixty-four legislators in the State House signed a letter in support of a proposed federal Balanced Budget Amendment. The letter expresses the legislators’ support of the amendment and declares the legislators’ intent to work for ratification of the proposal in Oklahoma.“If the Balanced Budget Amendment is approved by Congress, we are committed to supporting and working for ratification in Oklahoma,” the letter states. “We are confident that if given the opportunity, Oklahoma will be one of the first states to ratify the Balanced Budget Amendment.” Speaker of the House Kris Steele, (R-Shawnee), Representative Dennis Johnson, R-Duncan, and Corey Holland, (R-Marlow) all signed the letter.
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Oklahoma’s congressional delegation all support a balanced budget amendment. In fact, Senator Tom Coburn is so confident that President Obama would sign it if it reached his desk that he bet reporters in Washington a steak. Coburn told reporters, “I will bet you a porterhouse steak if it lands on his desk, he will sign this puppy.”
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While Dr. Tom and Prez are friends, it would seem Obama is not ready to help the Okie from Muskogee collect on the bet. President Obama said, “I think it’s important for everybody to understand all of us believe we need to get to the point where we can balance the budget, We don’t need a constitutional amendment to do that.”
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Do we need a federal constitutional amendment to insure Washington doesn’t spend more than they take in? It would seem so. Even under Republican control, Congress has an insatiable appetite for spending. When Republican lawmakers who brand themselves fiscal conservatives, but then take earmarks, push pet projects in their home state and rail against ‘big spending,’ it’s obvious we have a problem. Spending taxpayer money is the nature of the political beast, so it’s critical a law be passed that forces the creature to do what every American household has to do- live on what money comes in.
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Balancing the budget will be tough. The federal government employs over 2 million people- up almost ten percent in the past ten years- and those folks will not go ‘gently into that good night.’ Because most of the 1.4 million civilian employees have lots of time on their hands at work, they will relentlessly lobby members of Congress on how important their job is to the survivable of America. That’s how America has gotten a national debt of over 14 trillion dollars- over $130,000 per taxpayer. By caving into special interests. Like Ado Annie Carnes in the musical Oklahoma, most politicians ‘can’t say no.’
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Oklahoma legislators are OK for leading the charge to ratify a federal balanced budget amendment.