I'd rather see something like Bob Corker is proposingReader comment on: A Limited Government Amendment Submitted by Walter Mayhew (United States), Oct 12, 2010 17:01 capping spending at a given percentage of GDP (with a sub cap for defense spending). Corker is trying to do it legislatively, but that will likely leave Congress too many ways to get around it. An amendment that caps the budget at, say, 20% of the previous year's GDP (I would like something lower, but politically you probably need to go higher to get it passed) and defense spending at 5% (with provisions to lift the cap in times of national emergency) would be a better approach, IMO. I'd also like to see a spending amendment moved in tandem with something like Randy Barnett's Federalism Amendment. Note: Comments are moderated by the editor and are subject to editing. The Future of Capitalism replies: I don't see why government spending should be related to GDP. Some costs are fixed, others are variable. Why GDP and not, say, population, or the number of square miles of territory in America? Does an America with twice the GDP automatically need twice the national parks, twice as large an army, twice as large a Congress, twice as expensive a Supreme Court? Other reader comments on this item
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