What if instead of a stick – no reeslection for you! – we used a carrot? What if the sitting lawmakers who voted for a balanced budget eventually get a giant financial bonus? (To minimize monkeybusiness, we could require it to have been balanced in retrospect, say via assessment 2-10 years later.)
People – even Congresspeople! – respond to incentives.
Let's assume that the goal – the fiscal stability of a balanced budget – would be a noticeable boost to our $14-trillion-plus economy. Then the incentive could be quite huge – perhaps a million dollars per congressperson per year in balance – and still pay for itself, many times over.
Other interests are making millions per year from the legislative 'generosity' that results in a perpetually out-of-balance budget. Why not pay directly for the alternative result we prefer?
People – even Congresspeople! – respond to incentives.
Let's assume that the goal – the fiscal stability of a balanced budget – would be a noticeable boost to our $14-trillion-plus economy. Then the incentive could be quite huge – perhaps a million dollars per congressperson per year in balance – and still pay for itself, many times over.
Other interests are making millions per year from the legislative 'generosity' that results in a perpetually out-of-balance budget. Why not pay directly for the alternative result we prefer?