ACS is pleased to distribute “The Balanced Budget Amendment: A Threat to the Constitutional Order,” an Issue Brief by Neil Kinkopf, Professor at Georgia State University College of Law, in which the author asserts that “every conceivable enforcement mechanism [of such an amendment] would do serious violence to the fundamental structure of our government and of our Constitution.”
While current proposals call for Congress to enforce the amendment through appropriate legislation, Kinkopf points out that disputes about the amendment’s enforcement are likely to end up in the courts, which have ultimate authority to interpret the Constitution, but do not have expertise in economic policy. While some have suggested that the Executive might have a role in implementing a balanced budget amendment, Kinkopf warns that enforcement by another branch of government or an independent agency would put in the hands of another body the “power of the purse” granted by the Constitution to Congress. Perhaps as dangerous, is the possibility that the amendment would not be enforced. Kinkopf warns that empty constitutional promises that cannot be properly enforced erode the integrity of the entire document.
“The founding generation faced divisive controversies that were every bit as momentous as the present-day budget crisis. Yet they consciously designed the Constitution not to resolve these issues, instead leaving them to be resolved through the constitutionally ordained process of legislation in accordance with constitutionally guaranteed individual rights.”
