GOVERNMENT DEBT We support the drive for a constitutional amendment requiring the national government to balance its budget, and also support similar amendments to require balanced state budgets. To be effective, a balanced budget amendment should provide: a. that neither Congress nor the President be permitted to override this requirement; b. that all off-budget items are included in the budget; c. that the budget is balanced exclusively by cutting expenditures, and not by raising taxes; and d. that no exception be made for periods of national emergency. The Federal Reserve should be forbidden to acquire any additional government securities, thereby helping to eliminate the inflationary aspect of the deficit. Governments facing fiscal crises should always default in preference to raising taxes. At a minimum, the level of government should be frozen.

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