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New pressure for Senate to approve budget resolution

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    Sen. Mike Lee on proposal for new legislation

  • Duration 3:38
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You know millions of Americans plan their budgets every year but it has been nearly four years since the Democrat controlled senate did the same.

Well now Republicans are trying to apply some new pressure to get the senate budget resolution passed.

Our next yet -- to say is it is just not enough to pass a budget it has to be balanced as well.

Republican senator Mike Lee of Utah joins us now.

He just filed a bill pushing that amendment senator -- sits on the joint economic and armed services committee.

A balanced budget amendment in in a thumbnail sketch.

What would -- do senator.

Basically it would impose a permanent structural spending reform on congress.

Requiring congress each and every year to pass a balanced budget in other words to spend no more money than it takes him.

Unless of course congress can come up with a supermajority of votes necessary to trigger and -- and unusual and difficult to achieve exception.

Well I know you've been in the -- two years there have been many balanced budget amendments introduced in the past they've always being shot down.

What do you think why do you think the time is right now.

Because the need has never been stronger we've we've got to do this now because work sixteen trillion dollars in debt were adding -- that generated a trillion dollar a year.

We can't keep doing this very much longer before disaster strikes.

And so I I think the American people are getting behind this mindset then this this movement that calls upon congress.

To do what the overwhelming majority of state legislatures do every year which is passed budgets you know last year in the senate we had a total 67 votes.

For life balanced budget amendment it's just that we have 47 someone proposal and twenty on another.

-- you add those together and that's the two thirds -- we need to propose a constitutional amendment.

Out of the senate and I think we can get there but as I said at the outset I -- in the senate hasn't passed a budget in four years let alone an ounce one.

It's all the more reason for us to do this because -- there without a budget this amendment would require us.

To not spend any more than we take again and -- we can come up with two thirds supermajority vote.

Did you hear anything in the president's and -- inaugural address yesterday that suggested he might be on board with your idea I can't say that I did.

I was listening very closely to see if he might plug the balanced budget amendment but -- alas I was disappointed and he did not well you know campaigning.

For a for -- the first time around he was complaining about the nine trillion dollars in debt we had at that point in saying it was on American men and you know the wrong thing to leave to our children and grandchildren.

-- sixteen trillion.

When is this thing gonna turn around.

-- right we needed to turn around and you know what was on that very basis that then Senator Obama voted against an effort to raise the debt limit.

So we do need to turn around the way we turnaround is through -- permanent structural spending reform like a balanced budget amendment and that's what we need to have here.

Senator Chuck Schumer your fellow senator Democrat from New York sit on the Sunday shows that it is looking like the senate.

Might come up with some kind of a budget resolution and it includes tax increases is that the way to solve this thing.

Don't tax increases are not going to solve our problem ultimately what we have is not a revenue problem or -- tax problem.

-- our tax code is -- been distorted and unnecessarily complex.

We're not going to solve this problem through additional revenue we're going to solve it by changing the way we spend money.

Well senator -- we wish you well it would meet.

Interesting to see if the balanced budget amendment finally makes it through this time I guess I have my doubts but again thanks for joining us today.

Think you.

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