MOORESTOWN, NJ — Local businessman and candidate for Congress Bob Healey today said that a possible government shutdown if Congress fails to pass a spending bill before the end of the fiscal year underscores the need for a Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment to ‘halt the damage of Congress’ persistent fiscal recklessness.’

“Congress has repeatedly shown itself incapable of acting in a fiscally responsible manner. Year after year the Congress ‘plays chicken’ with federal programs, resorting to 11th hour spending resolutions to keep the federal government open,” Healey complained. “Any business owner knows if they did this, they wouldn’t have a profitable business for very long.”

As the Republican-nominee for Congress in NJ-03 District, Healey said, “Just last month Rep. Andy Kim was bragging about voting for another Democrat spend-a thon– $740 billion health care, climate and tax bill cynically labeled the ‘Inflation Reduction Act.’ A few weeks later in the middle of the Biden-Pelosi-Kim celebration, the government reported that the Consumer Price Index increased 8.3 percent over the last 12 months.”  

“Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress have taken reckless spending to a new level, but neither party has much to brag about on this front. It’s time for real reform,” the Burlington Republican added.

Healey noted: “A recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report suggested that the federal budget deficit could exceed $1.0 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2022, and legislation to increase the nation’s debt ceiling without any serious contemplation of how to slow spending is all but an annual event. We need to press pause.”

“Small businesses, average American families, even state governments must live within their budgets. Only the federal government shows no restraint. That isn’t going to change with politicians who have worked most, if not all, of their adult lives in government, like Joe Biden and Andy Kim. They simply don’t understand that nearly half of all hard working American families are living paycheck to paycheck,” declared Healey. 1

“As a member of Congress, I will push for a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the federal government from running annual budget deficits. During this time of record inflation, exceedingly high debt and economic hardship, Congress needs to get the budget under control. A Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution would put our country back in the right direction,” said Healey, a Burlington County business owner.

Kim, who first sought office in 2018, has been silent on need to manage federal spending, and has opposed a balanced budget amendment. 2

Healey said he favors a balanced budget law that includes an ‘escape hatch’, allowing in times of emergencies such as war, depression, etc.

Healey concluded, “Biden’s recent $5.8 trillion budget, supported by Andy Kim, would send our nation further down the rabbit hole of untenable economic peril. That’s why such a spending requirement is needed now.”

1 “About 41% of workers recently surveyed by WTW reported they are living paycheck to paycheck…”, according to Fortune. https://fortune.com/2022/06/16/41-percent-of-employees-are-living-paycheck-to-paycheck.

2 Kim Opposes Balanced Budget, Christian Coalition Survey, 07/01/18, www.issues2000.org/NJ/Andy_Kim_Budget_+_Economy.htm.

Original source can be found here.