The vast majority of states have constitutional or statutory mandates to balance their budgets each fiscal period. The federal government should be expected to do the same.
A balanced-budget requirement will ensure we do not continue to drive our country further into debt. When Republicans and Democrats are forced to spend only what we take in, Congress will not be able to sidestep tough decisions about our national priorities.
Balancing our budget today will avoid even tougher choices tomorrow. Under the president's recent budget proposal, which runs a deficit every year, payments on the national debt will quadruple over the next decade, crowding out important resources.
Delaying the inevitable only increases the severity of the cuts to important programs.