Missouri’s senior senator says not all balanced budget amendments are created equal. Claire McCaskill likes the one sponsored by Colorado Senator Mark Udall, and has signed on in support of it.
She says it would protect Social Security by not holding to arbitrary cuts if the rest of the budget is out of balance. McCaskill says she believes Social Security should be “tweaked,” but left separate and sound.
Udall’s measure would require a balanced budget beginning in five years. McCaskill says it is important that the budget not be balanced all at once, saying such an action would be “catastrophic” to the U.S. economy. She adds it would likely take at least a year or two to get such an amendment ratified by the required three-fourths of the states.
She also prefers it to other amendments that she says would require a two-thirds vote to pass changes to the tax code and would cut Medicare.
In spite of the recent conflict in Washington over the debt ceiling, McCaskill says she was encouraged in the end of that debate and believes Congress can come together on a balanced budget amendment.
You can view Senator Udall’s Amendment here.