State Treasurer Richard Mourdock said Wednesday in Fort Wayne he “would walk through fire” for Gov. Mitch Daniels.But Daniels took a firm stand the same day for Mourdock’s foe in the Republican primary election for a U.S.WASHINGTON – In their previous roles as city and state officials, Tom Hayhurst and Marlin Stutzman were required to work within the confines of a balanced budget.
The Democratic and Republican candidates for Congress say there is no reason Washington shouldn’t operate under the same discipline.
Hayhurst and Stutzman are competing to replace Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd, who resigned two months ago. Elections for the remainder of Souder’s term and for a full two-year term beginning in 2011 will be Nov. 2. Hayhurst was on the Fort Wayne City Council for 12 years; Stutzman is a state senator.
But if voters are looking for major differences between the two politicians, it won’t come on the issue of matching federal income with expenses.
Hayhurst said he’s a fan of a constitutional amendment that would require a balanced budget, although he is thin on how it would work out. For instance, Congress does not adopt one document each year as the national budget; instead, spending for various departments, agencies and programs are established through 12 individual bills. Also, spending levels for many programs such as Social Security, Medicare care veterans benefits are determined by the number of people who qualify; a specific dollar cap is not set each year.
How it would work in practical terms, Hayhurst said, would have to be worked out.
Stutzman said he would “wholeheartedly” support changing the Constitution to require a balanced budget.
But, ultimately, he said, the process “is only as good as the people willing to stick to it.”
He noted that there have been years that the Indiana budget was not in balance even though the state constitution requires it.
In separate interviews, both Stutzman and Hayhurst said part of the value of having a constitutional requirement for a balanced budget is the discipline it imposes.
“Once it’s there, it’d be followed,” Hayhurst predicted.
Even though previous attempts to send a balanced budget amendment proposal through Congress were voted down, Hayhurst said, there’s enough frustration in the country that the time might be right for its success.
Both Stutzman and Hayhurst said any balanced budget requirement in the Constitution must include a provision – perhaps invoked by a supermajority in Congress – to allow for spending to top income during war or to pay for natural disaster recovery.
