Indiana U.S. Senator Dan Coats delivered the GOP weekly address, calling for President Obama and Congressional Democrats to pass a balanced budget amendment.
“Broke or balanced — that’s the choice before us,” Mr. Coats said in the weekly address. “The American people … want their elected officials to stop spending money we don’t have, and to enact policies that will grow our economy and get Americans back to work.”
“The eyes of the world are fixed on the United States to see if we have the political courage and moral sense to solve our debt crisis,” the Indiana U.S. senator said.
Mr. Coats was joined by a eight U.S. Senators, who, in a letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, called for a vote on a balanced budget amendment.
“We clearly need the enforced discipline of a balanced budget constitutional amendment,” the U.S. senators wrote.
Calls for the balanced budget amendment, which would require two-thirds support, come as the Treasury Department revised its deadline for a deal raising the nation’s debt limit. The Treasury said Friday that lawmakers will have to reach a deal by July 22 in order to craft and pass a measure by an August 2 deadline. Secretary Timothy Geithner, in a letter to Congress earlier this month, said Congress must approve a deal by August 2, warning of the possibility of a U.S. default if a deal is not reached by then.
Meanwhile, President Obama used his weekly address to urged members of Congress to approve a deal. Mr. Obama said a deal eliminating tax loopholes for corporations must be an essential component of the deal.
“Now, it would be nice if we could keep every tax break, but we can’t afford them,” Mr. Obama said.
