A tremendous amount of energy has been put into the Balanced Budget Amendment movement. The whole debate has perversely served to distract from the important and key issue of the level of government expenditures. A balanced budget achieved at $1.7 trillion offers no benefit whatsoever and a great deal of harm compared to a $1 trillion budget out of balance. This whole debate over the Balanced Budget Amendment has co-opted the important issue of the proper size of government.

The deficits have exploded ever since welfare benefits became equivalent to an entitlement and a right. Removing restraint on the Federal Reserve to monetize the debt to accommodate Congressional spending by severing the last link of the dollar to gold was not a coincidence. It was needed to help finance the deficits that always accompany a welfare state.

Dwelling on changing the Constitution to make Congress act responsibly begs the question. If Congress ignores the Constitution in so many other ways, why would one expect the Congress to become obedient to this new amendment. The escape clauses will permit the deficits to continue if an amendment is ever passed.

With or without the amendment we must eventually ask the serious question as to what the government is permitted to do if we return to the rule of law -- i.e., the Constitution. Without respect for the Doctrine of Enumerated Powers, for which there is little concern in the Congress, another constitutional restraint placed on Congress will do little more than pacify a few vocal groups.

And if Social Security funds are used to balance the budget, the support for this project will quickly fade. What is generally forgotten in this debate is that the National Debt last year rose by 261 billion dollars -- a far cry from the much talked about 107 billion dollar deficit. The math is less clear than alleged.

The deficit problem is a lot more than an accounting problem. Balancing the books or pretending to do so will not solve the problems inherent in a welfare state manipulated by a majority vote for benefit of the special interests.