I was very disappointed yesterday evening (12/28/10), when Glenn Beck on his evening tv show announced he doesn’t like to meddle with the Constitution, but he wants a balanced budget amendment added to our federal Constitution to deal with Congress’ deficit spending. The problem is, Glenn’s thinking presumes our Founding Fathers were incompetent and did not provide a specific method in our Constitution to balance the federal budget. Had Glenn done his homework he would have learned our founding fathers were not incompetent and did in fact provide a specific course of action if Congress’ incoming revenue were found insufficient to meet the Publick Exigencies!

Those who have read our Constitution will probably recall that direct taxation is referred to two times in the document. But has Glenn ever mentioned to his listening audience that direct taxation is specifically linked to dealing with deficits, and if enforced, would make each State’s Congressional Delegation immediately accountable to their Governor and State’s Legislature whenever Congress creates deficit? The answer is no! Glenn has not informed his listening audience how our founder’s intended deficits to be dealt with and the part which direct taxation is intended to play.

So, exactly what were the founder’s intentions with regard to direct taxation? Those intentions are found in several of the State ratification documents, e.g., see Ratification of the Constitution by the State of New Hampshire; June 21, 1788

``Fourthly That Congress do not lay direct Taxes but when the money arising from Impost, Excise and their other resources are insufficient for the Publick Exigencies; nor then, untill Congress shall have first made a Requisition upon the States, to Assess, Levy, & pay their respective proportions, of such requisitions agreeably to the Census fixed in the said Constitution in such way & manner as the Legislature of the State shall think best and in such Case if any State shall neglect, then Congress may Assess & Levy such States proportion together with the Interest thereon at the rate of six per Cent per Annum from the Time of payment prescribed in such requisition-``

If Congress does not raise sufficient revenue from imposts, duties, and miscellaneous excise taxes to fund “the Publick Exigenciesâ€