Homeyer: S.C. needs to call for federal balanced budget amendment

If you own a small business, chances are good you’ve had to learn to live within your means. You stick to a budget. You don’t spend money you don’t have.

Congress, however, seems not to have learned this lesson. For many in Washington, the accepted perspective seems to be that, if you want to spend more, you can either just raise taxes or go deeper and deeper into debt. Then, just let our kids and grand kids sort out the mess later.

It has to stop.

Across the country, people are calling for a constitutional convention on the balanced budget. If 34 states pass resolutions, then Congress must hold a convention to vote on the proposed amendment. This amendment would include an exemption for national emergencies, but it would make responsible federal spending the norm rather than the exception. Twenty-seven states have already passed resolutions calling for just such a convention — including North Carolina and Georgia.

A balanced budget amendment would require Congress to make some tough, and potentially unpopular, decisions, but it would create a fiscally responsible government that lives within its means.

Making fiscally responsible choices is critical for small-business owners. Every day they must decide on priorities and make the necessary tradeoffs to survive, and thrive, in an environment with very clear limits.

Passing a balanced budget amendment is the only way to help our federal government operate as efficiently as a small business. It’s the only way we can rein in federal spending and tame the national debt.

We’ve given Congress plenty of chances to do the right thing. It’s time for the states, and citizens, to use the powers provided in our Constitution. We can’t afford to let the debt keep snowballing. South Carolina needs to pass a resolution to allow the process to go forward.

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 11:09 AM.