Amendment XXVIII?
There are many ideas for the next possible
amendment, but we would like to propose a modification to the Borrowing Clause of the Constitution:
“The Congress shall have
power... To borrow money on the credit of the United States...”
-Article 1,
Section 8, Clause 2
This clause does not explicitly state how much
money the legislative government could borrow. As a result, our government has
practiced deficit financing during WWII and the recent War on Afghanistan and
Iraq. The deficit has also gone up by our recent economic recession and the
Bush tax cuts, increasing up to at least $17 trillion as of 2014. If the U.S.
cannot pay back its debts in time, there will be a possible government shutdown
and/or default.
Therefore, our proposed amendment, which sets
a borrowing limit for Congress except in times of War or any other national
emergency, would solve the problem of our huge debt. However, an actual amount will have to be determined by Congress, depending on national
circumstances.
The concept of this amendment interests me, but how exactly would it function? If Congress is allowed to determine an actual amount, how would it do so? Even with limitations, I feel as though the government would still run into financial troubles because of split political parties. My guess is that opposing political parties would want to handle borrowing limits differently. My second question is: if an amendment is created to put a limit on borrowed money, should there be an amendment for the United States to make repayments? The United States have to come up with the money somehow. There should be a laid out plan for what the United States should do.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting idea. One question: does it matter if the US runs a moderate deficit? Why?
ReplyDelete