Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Sam Granato said he opposes amending the United States Constitution to adopt California-style rules for the federal budget.
“Delayed tax refunds, forced work-reduction furloughs, paying small business vendors with IOUs, court ordered tax increases, downgraded bond ratings, increased interest rates. All of these things have happened in California because of rules that prevent responsible budgeting. This is a future that I do not want to see for the United States of America. We are better than that,” Granato said.
Granato’s comments come on the heels of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s declaration of a “fiscal state of emergency” in California on Wednesday, a dire situation that was created by the state’s inflexible budget laws and ensuing political gridlock. Mike Lee, Granato’s Republican opponent, has supported adding similar rules on the federal level by amending the U.S. Constitution.
Granato said he opposes a so-called Balanced Budget Amendment because it will invariably result in draconian cuts that will hurt average Americans.
“They have cynically called it the Balanced Budget Amendment, but it is an unnecessary and extreme attempt to cut important programs that many ordinary Americans rely on, such as Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance. We certainly need to balance our federal budget and deal with our long-term deficits, but this contraption won’t do it. It is an extreme proposal that will send America further down the wrong-track,” Granato said.
Granato continued, “We have seen what it has done in California to adopt these types of rules. It is guaranteed to produce gridlock and political grandstanding of the worst kind. For too long, this very serious problem has been used as a partisan punching bag to score points and win elections. That Washington mindset needs to end now. We need to be fiscally responsible and end deficit spending, but not by playing political games with the Constitution.”
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