Zane DeZeeuw's 2nd Post

I stand for a debt-free America.

There is a huge debate in the government right now for how to solve the nation’s debt. Some want to solve the deficit by balancing the budget, and others want congress to create more jobs. However, government needs to stop bickering and come up with a well thought out plan to end the debt crisis.

The U.S. Senate has recently defeated two proposed balanced budget amendments. Both amendments would approve any money borrowing through a three-fifths majority in both houses of congress. The Republican proposal would have also required that spending would not exceed 18% of the economy and that tax increases would have to be approved by two-thirds vote. The Democratic proposal would also have prevented income-tax cuts for millionaires.

Luckily both of the amendments failed to pass. If they had passed, the economy along with small businesses would suffer, more people would be laid off, and purchasing power would be less. The biggest issue that would pop up would be an argument of what to fund and what to cut. The government would just continue to argue and nothing would get done with the amendments in use anyway.

The government needs to take a long time to think the debt issue over before jumping into a quick solution like these amendments. The debt crisis is a complex and large issue that needs a very detailed and well thought out solution. The issue also needs to be one of the government’s top priorities to solve; otherwise, America will continue to get more debt. Sacrifices will need to be made, but it is better than doing nothing and pretending the problem will go away by itself.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-12-14/senate-balanced-budget-amendment-votes/51914134/1

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-14/u-s-senate-defeats-two-balanced-budget-amendment-proposals.html

http://exeter.patch.com/articles/op-ed-7321381e