Moderate House Dems back balanced budget amendment

The “Blue Dog Coalition” of moderate Democrats wants a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, according to Bloomberg News.

The 27 members of the coalition said it will support an amendment proposed by Rep. Ben McAdams (D-Utah).

{mosads}”It’s clearer than ever that the only way Congress will be able to produce a balanced budget is if it is required to do so by law,” Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.), the Blue Dog co-chair for communications, said in a statement. “Washington needs to have a serious, bipartisan discussion about our nation’s fiscal state. Republicans and Democrats need to come together now to make tough decisions, and Rep. McAdams’ Balanced Budget Amendment is step in the right direction to putting our nation on a fiscally sustainable path. If we don’t address these problems, every single American will face serious economic repercussions.”

The amendment would provide exemptions allowing budget deficits during wars or recessions and would protect Medicare and Social Security from cuts. The amendment would take effect five years after being ratified, according to Bloomberg.

“Both parties have behaved in a way that is fiscally irresponsible,” McAdams said, according to Bloomberg. “The day of reckoning is coming.”

The proposal comes as more progressive members of the caucus have come out in favor of major initiatives with steep price tags, such as “Medicare for all” and the “Green New Deal,” as well as increased deficits under President Trump. In March, monthly deficits hit an all-time high of $234 billion, while in February the national debt exceeded $22 trillion for the first time in the nation’s history.

“In my district, fiscal responsibility matters. People live within their means and they are responsible with the decisions that they make, and we expect the same from our federal government,” McAdams, considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic members of Congress in 2020, told Bloomberg.