Griper Blade: GOP Utopia: Low Wages, High Unemployment

I'm tempted to wish Republican's balanced budget amendment was in force, because this bad idea would sink another bad idea. According to Jed Williams at Investors Business Daily, "Under the balanced budget amendment proposal unveiled last Thursday with all 47 GOP senators on board, the blueprint presented by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan on Tuesday would be unconstitutional until sometime after 2030."

But then I remember that the GOP's amendment is never going to go anywhere -- just like Paul Ryan's long-term budget. In fact, I have my doubts that either is even meant to survive. Constitutional amendments have to clear such a high bar that an actual movement is required to put them in place. Right now, the teabaggers seem to have all gone home and the only thing resembling a movement in this country is a backlash against draconian spending cuts in the states. I want to say the window of opportunity has closed, but the fact is that it was never even open.

Constitutional amendment proposals from Republicans tend to be vote-getting gimmicks to display how serious they are about the base's pet issues -- without actually being serious at all. Banning marriage equality, banning the rampant scourge of flag burning, and English-only amendments pop up all the time, only to die after being neglected even by their authors. These aren't fights Republicans are willing to have, these are fights Republicans are willing to pretend to have. A "stop me before I spend again!" amendment fits that description very well...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]