Time is of the essence for a balanced budget

Many of my colleagues have legitimate concerns that a balanced budget amendment would just be a stalking horse for Congress to raise taxes. I understand these concerns and we will have to continue to fight against raising taxes as it is not the solution to our budget problems. However, that concern must not overshadow and does not outweigh the accountability a balanced budget requirement would bring to Congress and the federal government.

Hopefully the recent attention to our budget catastrophe, and the realization that we can expect to overspend more in just the next 10 years than our nation has previously done in the last 220 years, will spur action on a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget. It is not too late but the situation is dire. Congress must start to cut spending and reign in out of control deficits and a balanced budget requirement may be the only way to do it.

Rep. Mike Coffman represents the 6^th District of Colorado.  A small business owner for more than 17 years and Marine Corps combat veteran, he is the only member of Congress to have served in both the first Gulf War and the Iraq War.  Coffman serves on the House Armed Services Committee, House Natural Resources Committee, and the House Committee on Small Business.