On the heels of passing a massive tax cut and a spending bill that will total over $3 trillion, House Republicans are talking about taking up a balanced budget amendment, a gimmick from the old Gingrich "Contract for America" scam. It might be good enough to lull the hardcore Republican base to show up again in November, but even the deficit peacocks are panning it.
Ryan apparently promised the Freedom Caucus they’d have this vote. To be clear, it’s stupid. It would have to pass the House, the Senate, and get support from three-fourths of the states. It. Is. Not. Going. To. Happen. Everyone, except maybe Freedom Caucus voters, gets that. The move isn’t fooling anybody else. A senior Republican aide panned the move's hypocrisy to the Daily Beast. "Republicans are feeling the heat after campaigning on the deficit and the debt, and then literally voting to do the opposite with levels that may surpass the worst of Obama." As for the Democrats, they see what’s behind this:
This is all about laying the groundwork to try to force cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, as House Speaker Paul Ryan has been promising for his entire career.