Abstract

The B.B.A.: A spent idea

Hearings have begun already on the so-called balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, and Republican leaders promise a vote by the end of February. It fell only two votes short of the required two-thirds majority in the Senate last time, and that body now has two more Republicans. The U.S. Government, though, is putting up a tough fight to block the amendment. And it is not quite clear how much Republicans really want to pass it. One might think that with U.S. President Bill Clinton and the Republicans agreed in principle on balancing the budget by 2002 and with the deficit already reduced from $290 billion in 1992 to $107 billion in 1996, this issue is passé There are serious questions as to whether balancing the budget, given the way the federal government keeps its accounts, is desirable at all, left alone at any specific time such as 2002. INSET: Make no amends, by John Conyers Jr..