It doesn't cut spending at all. It merely cuts the rate at which spending would normally increase. Not the same thing. And without actual cuts, a "balanced budget" amendment is dangerous: it would simply allow government to raise taxes to any level necessary to match its spending increases.
I sent a number of emails to Boehner via his Website exhorting him to stay the course with the Tea Party goals. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he caved.
The US is “planning” to dig its grave at a somewhat slower pace, but make no mistake - it is still digging that grave at the rate of over $1 trillion in new debt each year. If nothing changes, the total federal debt will far exceed $20 trillion by the end of this debt deal farce. Increasing the federal debt from $14 to $24 trillion over the next 10 years, instead of to $26 trillion, is madness. And even that timid goal will depend on wildly optimistic growth projections and a drop in unemployment.
Contrast this with Canada, where our current federal debt is only $564 Billion (the equivalent of $5.64 trillion US, on a per capita adjustment), with a balanced budget predicted in three years. And this from a Canadian government which also engaged in a foolish stimulus program.