Senate Proposal for Balanced Budget Amendment Would Require Extreme Cuts
May 9, 2016
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According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the constitutional balanced budget amendment that the Senate may consider this year would inflict immense damage upon government programs and the U.S. economy, potentially doubling the unemployment rate. The amendment, which has been sponsored by every Republican senator, would create a constitutional cap on total federal spending set at 18 percent of GDP. The total amount of cuts would come to $8 trillion in the first decade of its implementation and would severely diminish programs that benefit education, law enforcement, medical research and other matters. It would also cut Social Security by $2.3 trillion and would lower federal spending on vital programs to a percent of the economy not seen since the early 1930s.
