Showing exceptional GOP unity on the issue – from Politico:

No deal to raise the debt ceiling is complete without an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced federal budget to prevent Congress “from hijacking the promise of American prosperity,” two Senate Republicans are arguing as a bipartisan group of congressional leaders heads to the White House on Thursday.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) say that while deep budget cuts and caps on future spending are key to warding off “fiscal calamity,” an amendment to the Constitution forcing the federal government to spend only what it has is essential…

If there is such a thing as a “liberal Republican” these days, it is Senator Snowe.  At best, she’s only a couple steps to the right of Joe Lieberman.  But, in the end, balancing the budget is no longer an ideological issue for anyone with sense – in 2011, you are either in favor of a balanced budget or you are an idiot or you are a corrupt tool of the Ruling Class.  Pick which one you are, because those really are the three choices. Continue reading →