Ballanced Budget Amendment

Our own Ron Johnson has proposed an amendment to the Constitution which would require a balanced budget. On the surface this sounds like a great idea especially with the ongoing discussion of the debt ceiling. A balanced budget amendment will not do anything about the debt. It will make going to war next to impossible unless you budget for it. No more military adventures into a country like Iraq. No more bailouts, unemployment (the fund is broke), road building,... Under the Johnson plan one could assume that in bad economic times government will sit on the sidelines and do nothing because it isn't in the budget. I think that we tried that in 1928 and it was a disaster. Government at that point becomes the only entity that can spend. I don't foresee Government running a surplus to cover disasters, wars, or bad economies. Remember George Bush gave away the Clinton surplus.