The Non-Partisan Solution to the Civil Rights Issue of the Age

If current trends continue, it will only be a few more years before much, if not most, of the federal government’s budget will be allocated to debt service. But hidden in that prediction is more than numbers. It is the loss of self-governance by our children and future generations. Because of the federal government's unlimited borrowing capacity, they will be burdened with the bill and taxed for spending decisions they never made. Their liberty and property will be deprived as a result. And the burden will also deprive them of the opportunity to chart their own course in public policy.

The denial of self-governance on this scale is a gross civil rights violation of the sort that inspired the founding of the nation and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The only plausible non-partisan solution is a Balanced Budget Amendment that constitutionally limits federal borrowing.

Compact for America Education Foundation's Policy Report 18 explains why that solution is already here - it is the specific Balanced Budget Amendment advanced by the Compact for a Balanced Budget. It is the only Balanced Budget Amendment that has been publicly explained and defended for 5 years. It is the only Balanced Budget Amendment ever vetted by dozens of subject matter experts and think tanks; and also more than a thousand state legislators in the five states that have joined the Compact and in the seven states in which at least one chamber has passed legislation to join the Compact. It is the only Balanced Budget Amendment ever to garner a ratification commitment from any state, let alone five states, if it were proposed.

Over the past 40 years, committees in both the U.S. House and Senate have conducted a number of hearings to address whether a Balanced Budget Amendment is necessary, how it would be crafted, concerns over various provisions, and how the amendment would be enforced. The Compact's Balanced Budget Amendment is unique in addressing all such concerns based on the lessons learned in the states through their various and ongoing attempts to enforce state constitutional balanced budget amendments and debt limits.

Read Policy Report 18 and see why the Compact for America Balanced Budget Amendment is truly The Non-Partisan Solution to the Civil Rights Issue of the Age.

And if you agree with what you read, please consider a generous investment to support nationwide educational efforts to explain why the states and Congress should partner in making this solution a part of the U.S. Constitution.