Monday, January 24, 2011

Petition to amend the Constitution and to NOT raise the debt ceiling


From: Senate Conservatives Fund

On my post of December 27, 2010 entitled “Christmas present to the nation and a petition,” at the end of the post I included a petition from Michelle Bachmann to not raise the debt limit. (If you have not signed that petition, please go to the post, follow the link, and sign it.) Today, a similar petition from the Senate Conservatives Fund to amend the Constitution and also not to raise the debt ceiling.

From: Senate Conservatives Fund

“Dear Fellow Conservative:

The first major test for Republicans this year will be on how we address our nation’s exploding debt. We are quickly approaching the statutory debt limit of $14.3 trillion so this issue will come to a head very soon.

President Obama wants Congress to raise our nation’s debt ceiling again without doing anything serious to cut spending and balance the budget. His economic advisor, Austan Goolsbee, recently argued that the sky would fall unless we keep borrowing. But the truth is the sky is already falling BECAUSE we keep borrowing.

We must stop the debt and balance the budget, and that’s why I’m writing to ask for your help today.

There are senators on both sides of the aisle who hope their constituents won’t be paying attention when the Senate considers the debt limit in February. They want to quietly vote for more debt without paying a political price.

We can’t let that happen.

Please join me in doing two things right now.

First, visit http://stopthedebtpledge.com/ and sign our ‘Stop the Debt’ pledge. It states, ‘I hereby pledge to support only those candidates who demand that Congress stop the debt and pass a Balanced Budget Amendment.’

In the last 10 years, Congress has raised the debt ceiling 10 times, but it has not voted a single time to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment. The only way to keep Congress from creating more debt is to pass a Constitutional Amendment that forces it to balance the budget without raising taxes.

Second, call your senators and tell them to ‘stop the debt and balance the budget’. Urge them to do everything it takes, including a filibuster, to block the debt limit increase and pass the Balanced Budget Amendment. Click here to contact your senators.

http://senateconservatives.com/site/callsheet?c=EY4D33564800866

(One reason I’m posting this petition is because of this page of the website. It gives the name, party, and telephone number for each Senator and a link for e-mail contact for almost all Senators. Save it and use it!—my addition)

The Balanced Budget Amendment will:

1) Require Congress to balance the federal budget each year
2) Prevent Congress from spending more than 20 percent of GDP
3) Require a 2/3 super-majority vote to raise taxes

[Before actually supporting such an amendment, I’ll have to know the exact wording of the amendment. If I remember correctly (and I didn’t look it up), the U.S. spent more than 20 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product—an economic measurement) during World War II. Would an exemption(s) be made under certain circumstances?—my addition]

Every state except for Vermont has a requirement to balance its budget and so should Congress. This is a commonsense reform that is overwhelmingly supported by the American people. There is no reason why the Senate cannot pass the Balanced Budget Amendment.

(The question is: will they obey the Amendment? The State of Illinois does not obey its Constitution in this regard and the federal government does not always follow its own Constitution. It’s up to the people to insure that it is followed. WE need to be always vigilant!!!—my addition)

The last time the Senate voted on the Balanced Budget Amendment was in 1997 when it was just one vote shy of the 67 votes needed for adoption.

We can win this policy battle if we’re willing to fight for our principles. All 47 Republicans voted in November to make the Balanced Budget Amendment the policy of the Senate Republican Conference, and there are 23 Democrats up for re-election in 2012 who won’t want to vote against it. (See the list of the 23 Democratic members of the Senate up for reelection in 2012 on my post of November 9, 2010 entitled “Democratic Senators up for reelection in 2012.” Two of the 23 have already said they will not seek reelection!—my addition)

The President may attack conservatives who filibuster the debt limit and accuse us of putting the nation at risk, but the President and the politicians in Congress who refuse to balance the budget are the ones hurting our country. The time has come for Americans to draw a line in the sand and say ‘enough is enough’. (We need to STOP our out-of-control spending!—my addition)

Please sign the ‘Stop the Debt’ pledge

http://senateconservatives.com/stopthedebt/?c=EY4D33564800866,

forward it to your friends and family, and call your senators

http://senateconservatives.com/site/callsheet?c=EY4D33564800866

to urge them to stop the debt and pass the Balanced Budget Amendment.

Respectfully,

Jim DeMint
United States Senator
Chairman, Senate Conservatives Fund

http://senateconservatives.com/stopthedebt/?c=EY4D33564800866