Text of proposed
BUDGET
AMENDMENT
ARTICLE 28 (or alternate number to be assigned by Congress)
Section 1.
It is the right of citizens to enjoy a fiscally sound and debt free federal
government which is foundational to a free people and must not be violated by
the State.
Section 2.
It is hereby mandated that the United States Congress will conduct the fiscal
affairs of the United States Government according to the requirements of this
Article.
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Section 3.
A Balanced Federal Budget consists of accurately assigning the sum of all
federal receipts (which includes all tax revenues and all other sources of
government income) to pay for all Federal expenditures within the current year
and with the mandate not to allow expenditures to exceed revenue and income.
The following exceptions apply:
-
In time of war or national
emergency the United States Congress can authorize expenditures to exceed
income and revenue as is required to protect the interests and security of
the United States and its citizens. However, the United States Congress is
required to amortize the repayment of any debt incurred over a maximum of
ten years from the end of the war or national emergency. The United States
Congress is prohibited from extending the repayment of the debt beyond ten
years which includes the repayment of monies borrowed and any interest and
other costs that may have accrued in order to service said debt. Congress
can repay the debt, in full, in less than ten years, but must pay no less
than 1/10th of the original amount owed by the Government, including
interest and other costs, in each remaining year of the ten year term,
unless the balance is less than 1/10th of the original amount.
-
The United States Congress is
authorized to allow expenditures to exceed revenues and income when in the
collective wisdom of two thirds of the members of both Houses of the United
States Congress it is necessary to do so. However, the United States
Congress is required to amortize the repayment of any debt incurred over a
maximum of five years from the date said debt was authorized by Congress.
The United States Congress is prohibited from extending the repayment of
said debt beyond five years which includes the repayment of monies borrowed
and any interest and other costs that may have accrued in order to service
said debt. Congress can repay the debt, in full, in less than five years,
but must pay no less than 1/5th of the original amount owed by the
Government, including interest and other costs, in each remaining year of
the five year term, unless the balance is less than 1/5th of the original
amount.
Section 4. The
United States Congress is prohibited from taking any debt that may remain from
previous year deficits and include it as part of a new deficit expenditure in
current or future years. The repayment of any previous years debt, as defined
in Section 3.1, Section 3.2, and Section 6., is a Federal expenditure to be
repaid as part of a balanced Federal budget in a current year and/or future
year(s) as mandated in Section 3. above.
Section 5. It is further prohibited for the United States
Congress to extend the repayment of any and all debt incurred beyond the time
lines required in this Article.
Section 6. All current debt owed by the United State
Government at the time this Article is ratified, including accrued interest
and other costs to service said debt, must be repaid by the United States
Congress within 20 years from the date this Article is ratified by the several
States. Congress can repay the current debt, in full, in less than twenty
years, but must pay no less than 1/20th of the original amount owed by the
Government, including interest and other costs, in each remaining year of the
20 year term, unless the balance is less than 1/20th of the original amount.
Section 7. To secure the rights of citizens to enjoy a
fiscally sound and debt free federal government, which is foundational to a
free people, it is hereby prohibited for the United States Congress to allow
federal expenditures to exceed federal revenue and income, in any given year,
as mandated by the requirements and allowances of this Article.
Section 8. This Article further mandates that the Speaker of
the House and the Majority Leader in the Senate along with all other members
of both the House and Senate and the President and Vice President in the
Executive Branch who intentionally obstruct the annual balancing of the
Federal Budget as defined in this Article shall have committed an impeachable
offense and will also be subject to criminal prosecution with up to five years
in prison for each conviction. Non-elected members of the United States
Government, and private organizations, and individuals who intentionally
obstruct the annual balancing of the Federal Budget will have committed a
criminal offense and upon conviction serve up to five years in prison. The
United States Department of Justice shall be charged with the responsibility
for prosecuting violators of the provisions of this Article. Individual States
shall have authority to prosecute violators under State laws in the absence of
Department of Justice prosecution.
Section 9. This Article shall be immediately enforceable upon
the United States Congress when ratified by the State Legislatures of three
quarters of the several States.
Delegate Resolutions
Controlling the Single Issue Federal Convention
Article V Analysis
From the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution
*Donations are not
tax deductible.
There is a serious
Constitutional crisis looming.
Your support is needed to help Citizen Initiatives secure the ratification
of the Balanced Budget Amendment through a "Single Issue" Amendment
Convention under Article IV, 4 and Article V of the United States Constitution.
The Amendment is presently advancing in 50 States with 32 States already Calling
on Congress to convene a Convention. It is urgent that we secure a special
Delegate Resolutions between the Calling States assuring
that the Convention will be a "Single Issue" Convention restricting the
delegates to only one Convention decision - Should the Balanced Budget
Amendment. as written in the Delegate Resolution. be sent to the
States for ratification?". All other deliberations at the Convention will
not be authorized or allowed. The Calling States alone determine the terms,
conditions, duration and agenda at the Convention. The delegates, summoned
by Congress and appointed by the State Legislatures, are AMBASSADORS of their
States, they are not independent agents. The State Legislatures have the
authority to limit and control the appointed delegates at the Convention, not
Congress or the Courts. Through a separate Delegate Resolution
only 26 Calling States will control the Convention.
Since the
economic downturn in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, 321 States
made legislative calls for a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment.
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado,
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming
None of the 32 Calling States entered into a
protective agreement that would define the terms, conditions and agenda at the
Convention for their delegates. If two more States complete a Call on Congress, we would have
an undefined Convention controlled by the delegates, not the Calling States.
As many as 17 States have since rescinded their Calls, but there is nothing in the
Constitution authorizing the States the option of rescission. Congress
could ignore the rescissions and convene the Convention for political reasons.
WE MUST STOP THIS PORTENDING CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS. It is imperative that
the Balanced Budget Amendment Committee secure Delegate Resolutions from between
26 to 34 Calling States before the last two States make Calls. We need your
help. Join our team in your State. We
need State Directors, Regional Directors, Legislative Directors, Coordinators
and
Contributors.
Please make your
donation by clicking this secure Pay Pal link:
Donations.
A great many State Legislators, as well as
organizations such as the Goldwater Institute and ALEC, support Single Issue
Federal Conventions.
With Delegate Resolutions we offer the only way to safely convene and conduct the Convention's affairs at
the Balanced Budget Amendment Federal Convention.
Citizen Initiatives
Balanced Budget Amendment Federal
Convention
P.O. Box 523
Spruce Pine, NC 28777-0523
director@citizeninitiatives.org
1
Montana recently introduced a Resolution to its Legislature Calling for a
BBA. If the Resolution is approved by both Houses it will become
the 33rd State to complete a Call on Congress for a Convention.
Budget Amendment Book