Cleveland businessman and pension executive Art Rhodes, a candidate for the Third District Congressional seat, called for Congress to pass, and the states to ratify, a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Mr. Rhodes said, “Amending the Constitution is not something that I take lightly. However, our federal leaders don’t seem to understand how to balance a checkbook. In the President’s budget, 40 cents out of every dollar he proposes to spend will be borrowed money. If an individual tried that, he or she would be bankrupt very quickly, especially when the money that is borrowed is going to pay the electricity bill.

The money that is being spent by the government is just that — operational dollars and not investment in appreciable assets.

"As an acknowledgment that its spending practices are out of control, Congress recently passed 'pay-as-you-go' budget rules, but those provisions, commonly called 'paygo,' were attached to a measure that raised the legal limit on government borrowing by a record $1.9 trillion. By this provision, the national debt will be allowed to increase to $14.3 trillion dollars — or about $46,000 owed by every man, woman and child in this country.

"But if Congress passed the “paygo” rules, how could the national debt increase? Simple — the new “paygo” rules have no teeth, and exceptions outweigh the rules. During the time that I worked in Congress and specifically on the House Budget Committee staff in the mid 90s, Congress worked under pay-as-you-go budget rules that wiped out massive annual deficits and balanced the budget. Since that time, both Congress and the Administration have gone on spending sprees that have driven our national deficits up to unsustainable levels and our national debt to a catastrophic level. Passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment appears to be the only option to get this runaway train back on the right fiscal track.

"Over the past few weeks, the financial markets of our country have roiled as investors have expressed fear that several European countries could default on their government-issued debt obligations. Greece, Spain and Portugal are all facing massive credit problems brought on by uncontrollable government spending. For example, Greece’s public debt now hovers around 100 percent of that nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and is projected to rise to more than 135 percent of GDP by 2011. In other words, Greece’s total debt is now equal to the market value of all the goods and services made within the borders of that country in the year.

"The U.S. is racing toward a similar fate. In 2007, the debt ratio in the U.S. was 36.2 percent. This year our nation’s public debt has grown to 63.6 percent of our annual GDP, next year it is expected to be at 68.6 percent, and well over 70 percent in following years, even considering the Obama administration’s rosy forecast. But those numbers just include the public debt — the debt owed to individuals and foreign buyers of our government bonds. If you include the total U.S. debt, adding in all the IOUs to government funds such as the Social Security Trust Fund, our national debt will approach, if not exceed, the total output (GDP) of our economy this year.

"As a nation, we must decide if we are going to lead the world in getting our financial affairs in order, or are we going to follow some of the other countries of the world to the brink of bankruptcy. A Balanced Budget Amendment is needed now.

"Not only must we balance our nation’s budget and begin immediately to pay off the massive debts we have accumulated, Congress must also realize that economic growth cannot be generated by government, but only by the private sector. While the federal government can stimulate economic expansion if fashioned properly, the government is not a generator of long-term tax-paying job growth; private enterprise is. The current repressive tax structure must be completely overhauled for growth to be sustainable.

"We have followed the fiscally irresponsible habits of our neighbors in the world community long enough. It is time that we elect people who are willing, knowledgeable and proven in leading during difficult and trying times.”