Constitutional Amendment to Balance the Budget would wipe out tax cutting Republican Platform, and Forbid tax increases for Wealthy.

David Frum has been very clear about this one fact; as long as there are huge deficits, tax cuts would be out of the question. Hard core Ayn Rander Alan Greenspan and Reagan economic guru David Stockman have denounced the push to restore the Bush tax cuts that further increase the deficit. In fact, with everything that is now off the books, including emergency spending for natural disasters, balancing the budget would prove chaotic for our country. Just what the Republicans want. When people are pushed into a corner, the guttural fear factor takes precedent over a more thoughtful approach, and the irrational takes over.

The Hill: Senate Republicans are planning a new push for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution when lawmakers return to Washington after the August recess … the proposal … came within one vote of passing Congress in 1995 … The amendment would bar the federal government from spending more than it collects in revenues each year. It would also require a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber to raise taxes.

A slew of Republican candidates in strong positions to join the Senate next year have endorsed amending the Constitution … (including) Ron Johnson in Wisconsin. “No one is saying that a balanced budget would immediately pass,” said a Senate GOP aide.

But the unintended consequences of never raising taxes again appeals to some Democrats. "Sens. Max Baucus (Mont.), Tom Harkin (Iowa) and Herb Kohl (Wis.) voted for a balanced budget amendment when it came to the floor in March of 1995. Vice President Joe Biden, who then represented Delaware, also voted for it."

They would join the crowd that would do away with the New Deal. Democrats have always been their own worst enemy, even more so now, as the party has moved right of center on most issues.

Opponents such as Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) face tough reelections. A popular element of the amendment is the requirement of a supermajority to raise taxes.

“The point of that is so that raising taxes won’t be the default way to balance the budget,” said DeMint. “The whole idea is to cut spending.”

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