Much if not all of our problems as a country come from the ability to spend without constraints. Hopefully this fails and sane spending becomes mandatory.
We’ve passed deficit/spending controls before—Gramm–Rudman–Hollings (1985) with sequestration (partly invalidated in Bowsher v. Synar and rewritten), then the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (PAYGO + caps), and later the Budget Control Act of 2011 (caps + sequester). Each time, Congress either rewrote the rules, raised the caps repeatedly, or routed money around them (e.g., OCO and “emergency” designations). The BCA caps expired after FY2021. Net: these laws haven’t delivered durable spending restraint.
One thing I like about this strategy is that it serves as a shot across the bow of any "too big to fail" businesses/industries.
Much if not all of our problems as a country come from the ability to spend without constraints. Hopefully this fails and sane spending becomes mandatory.
We’ve passed deficit/spending controls before—Gramm–Rudman–Hollings (1985) with sequestration (partly invalidated in Bowsher v. Synar and rewritten), then the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (PAYGO + caps), and later the Budget Control Act of 2011 (caps + sequester). Each time, Congress either rewrote the rules, raised the caps repeatedly, or routed money around them (e.g., OCO and “emergency” designations). The BCA caps expired after FY2021. Net: these laws haven’t delivered durable spending restraint.