Posted on 11/16/2011 1:45:57 PM PST by Driftwood1
The Blue Dog Coalition of moderate lawmakers endorsed a bill put forward by House Republicans to pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
The endorsement puts them at odds with President Barack Obama, whose administration said it opposed such an amendment.
"We do not need to amend the Constitution for only the 28th time in our nations history to do the job of restoring fiscal discipline," the Office of Management and Budget said on Tuesday.
Speaker of the House John Boehner said he was "disappointed" in Obama for opposing the bill which is certain to fail in the Senate saying it is needed "to hold back the growth of government and give our economy a chance to grow and create jobs."
The amendment would require a balanced budget, unless three-fifths in both chambers agreed to run a deficit. Raising the debt limit would require the same margin.
Congress has demonstrated that regardless of which party is in charge, out-of-control spending is a hard habit for them to kick," said Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), the Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications, in a statement. "Its become clear that a constitutional amendment is the only way to force Congresss hand toward fiscal responsibility."
The Blue Dog Coalition is down to just 26 members, after nearly two dozen members lost their seats to Republican candidates in 2010.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
“We HAVE to raise taxes to balance the budget. We don’t want to, but the constitution is forcing us!”
(Without a supermajority requirement for tax increases)
Why not? Because the Feds have been doing such a wonderful job of having fiscal discipline? How does the OMB plan on restoring fiscal discipline?
Einstein once said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." I agree, and would add that we cannot solve our problems with the same people that created them.
An amendment would changed the thinking. We the people need to change congress.
“Blue Dogs”?! All dems are communists.
Let the revolution begin.
Become Republicans or retire.. you may lose the primary anyway.
The Obamacare vote proved there are no moderate democrats.They just have different price tags.
“The Blue Dog Coalition of moderate lawmakers...”
Sorry, but I no longer believe such a thing can exist above the level of City-Council member or perhaps state legislature (and it’s rare to see that). The far left runs the show in national Democratic politics, and nobody stays moderate for very long if they want to keep getting party support. You cannot be an old-school Scoop Jackson type of Democrat in a party where the power is held by Pelosi, Reid, and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.
This is all about trying to save their seats in 2012, nothing more, nothing less. I might have bought it 20 years ago, but I ain’t buying it now.
The Blue Dog Coalition of moderate lawmakers...
Sorry, but I no longer believe such a thing can exist above the level of City-Council member or perhaps state legislature (and its rare to see that). The far left runs the show in national Democratic politics, and nobody stays moderate for very long if they want to keep getting party support. You cannot be an old-school Scoop Jackson type of Democrat in a party where the power is held by Pelosi, Reid, and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.
This is all about trying to save their seats in 2012, nothing more, nothing less. I might have bought it 20 years ago, but I aint buying it now....”
Amen Bro. There is NO SUCH THING. You might as well go looking for unicorns. They proved it on the obongocare vote. Every stinkin’ one of em voted for it....all of em! They’re now trying to distance themselves from the ass hat in the white house hoping the voters will forget what they did. We won’t. They deserve the full wrath of the voting public whatever that might entail.
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