President Bush is right. We must have a balanced budget amendment. Congress has a golden opportunity this week to take a tip from Utah - by adding a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
A vote in the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled for Thursday. If Congress passes a balanced budget amendment, I will immediately call the Utah Legislature into special session to ratify the amendment.Congress must not be allowed to continue the endless taxing and spending that are driving our nation toward financial calamity.
The federal government must be bound by the same restrictions faced by every American family to live within their means with a balanced budget.
For too long, Congress has spent the public's money without exhibiting the slightest discipline that would be required by a balanced budget amendment.
Interest payments now represent nearly 15 percent of the federal budget - an average of $65,000 for a family of four.
The deficit is projected to gobble up 6.8 percent of our gross domestic product, almost two and a half times the level many economists deem harmful to economic growth.
The money spent on interest could be better used by families to save, and by businesses to invest in research and to create jobs.
Every year, as we delay taking steps to control federal spending, the deeper the national debt becomes.
The Texas-based Institute for Policy Innovation recently projected that the growth of federal spending, if it continues at the present rate, will be 30 percent of our national income by the start of the new century.
I acknowledge the short-term, difficult challenges that a balanced budget amendment will create. However, the longer we delay, the more difficult those challenges become.
In Utah, there is no passing the buck when it comes to budgeting. The requirement to balance our budget forces us to distinguish between our real needs and our wants. There are no "blank checks." Sometimes we must say no to good ideas that are not within our means.
When I visited President Salinas of Mexico last fall, we discussed two crucial points: First, in public finance there must be restraint; and second, expenditures must be tied to revenues.
If Congress would ascribe to these simple principles - there would be no budget deficit. In Utah, we understand this philosophy and it has made Utah number one in fiscal responsibility.
The accountability we have in Utah is missing on the federal level. Congress has been pork-barreling budgets with projects to please special interest groups, which has pushed the national debt to reach $4 trillion. Furthermore, as Utah's governor, I have another tool that helps me meet my responsibility to control spending - the line-item veto. This permits me to cut expenditures Utah simply cannot afford. The president needs the line-item veto.
The accountability we have in Utah is missing on the federal level. Congress has been pork-barreling budgets with projects to please special interest groups, which has pushed the national debt to reach $4 trillion.
Congress now has a chance to stop the spending spree and start playing by the same rules as governors and state legislators across America. Congress must support President Bush and pass a balanced budget amendment now.
(Norm Bangerter is Republican governor of Utah.)