Greenspan Endorses Budget Amendment as ‘Very Last Resort’

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan gave a partial endorsement today to a balanced-budget constitutional amendment but said he prefers one making it harder for Congress to pass spending bills.

“I must say that in recommending something which redresses the (deficit problem) through a constitutional amendment, I do with very significant regret,” Greenspan told a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the balanced-budget proposal.

“I can see certain advantages to a constitutional amendment as a very last resort but it’s almost saying we’re throwing in the sponge (in attempts to balance the budget without changing the Constitution),” he said.

During his testimony, Greenspan neither fully endorsed nor completely rejected the amendment as a solution to the deficit problem.

“I was as forthcoming as I wanted to be,” he said afterward when asked whether he supported or opposed the specific balanced-budget amendment that the full House is scheduled to vote on next Tuesday.

Asked about the amendment’s chances, House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) said, “I don’t think it will be approved.”