Mo Brooks pushes for new balanced budget amendment - WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, AL

Tennessee Valley Congressman Mo Brooks is pushing a plan that would give the president the power to balance the federal budget or be impeached if he doesn't.

Brooks is proposing what he calls the Protecting American Solvency Act. It allows for increases in the national debt if there's a Constitutional amendment that requires a balanced federal budget.

The proposal would give the government five years to get its books straight, then give the president the power, and a serious obligation, to take action to close any deficit - or else.

"If Congress passed the balanced budget Constitutional amendment and if the states ratify it, five years from now, there would be provisions that empower the president of the United States, if we have a revenue shortfall, to do what is necessary to make sure that our budget is balanced," said Brooks. "If he fails to do that, it would be an impeachable offense."

Brooks said his plan need not go the way of past attempts to pass a balanced-budget Constitutional amendment. He said tying the plan to any debt ceiling increases could get it through Congress, and he said it should be possible to get 38 of the states to agree to it too.

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