Balanced Budget Amendment

Definitions to apply to the following language of this amendment:

Balanced Shall mean that there will be NO deficit spending and the budget shall not increase the national debt. Decreasing the debt or underspending revenues shall be allowed.

Declared War Shall mean that a war was declared by the president and the declaration was approved by both houses of congress as is specified in the Constitution of the United States.

Declared Natural Disaster Shall mean that the House of Representatives shall pass a bill, by a 2/3rds majority,to declare, for a period of one year and ONLY one year, that a naturally occurring disaster has occurred and that it affects a specific portion of the country. The Senate shall then pass that SAME bill by a 2/3rds majority and the President of the United States will sign that bill.

Exempt Shall mean that it is NOT subject to the "Balanced Budget Amendment"

Naturally Occurring Shall mean any weather disaster, earthquake, volcanic, meteor impact, tsunami, and infectious disease. It shall not include global climate change effects.

A Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

This amendment to the Constitution of the United States establishes that the annual budget of the United States shall be balanced in expenditures and revenues and will not add to the national debt in any one year. It shall be permissible to reduce the national debt.

There are two areas of spending that will be Exempt from this amendment, Declared Natural Disasters, as defined above and Declared War, as defined above.

1) Declared Natural Disasters must be re-declared annually as stated in the definition above. All expenditures that are exempted from this amendment MUST BE direct expenses relating to the declared natural disaster and will be exempt ONLY to the extent that they exceed 5% of the total annual budget, and ALL the expenses for any particular natural disaster whether exempted because they are above the 5% limit or within that first 5% MUST BE direct expenses related to the declared natural disaster..

Examples of allowed expenses are:

a) infrastructure repairs to the original state,

b) relocation of disaster victims,

c) housing, food and medical expenses of disaster victims

Non-allowed expenses would include, but not be limited to such things as:

a) improvements on the infrastructure. These would fall under other headings such as Corps of Engineer budgets and normal infrastructure improvement budgets and be non-exempt for that reason.

b) continued support of disaster victims past one year,

All allowed expenses will only be approved one year at a time subject to a re-enactment of a subsequent, one year, Declared Natural Disaster bill.

2)Declared War expenses will be exempt ONLY to the extent that they exceed 5% of the total annual budget, and ALL the expenses for any particular war whether exempted because they are above the 5% limit or within that first 5% MUST BE direct expenses related to the declared war.

Examples of allowed expenses are:

a) weapons, equipment, training, and facilities for troops

b) transportation of troops,

c) housing, food and medical expenses of troops

Non-allowed expenses would include, but not be limited to such things as:

a) infrastructure improvements within the United States,

b) weapons research, etc. that fall under the usual military expenditures needed to maintain a standing military force.

"You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free."

Jim Isbell
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