The United States national debt has surpassed $36 trillion. Washington borrows roughly $2 trillion more than it collects in revenue every year. And yet Congress keeps spending — with no plan, no discipline, and no accountability. A Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would change that. It would require the federal government to do what every Florida family, business, and local government must do: live within its means.
What Is a Balanced Budget Amendment?
A Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) is a proposed change to the U.S. Constitution that would legally require Congress to pass a budget in which spending does not exceed revenue in any given fiscal year. Most versions of the amendment also include:
- A cap on federal spending as a percentage of GDP
- A requirement for a supermajority (typically two-thirds) of Congress to approve any tax increase
- Exceptions for declared wars or national emergencies
Forty-nine of fifty U.S. states already operate under some form of balanced-budget requirement. The federal government is the lone exception.
Why Does the National Debt Matter for FL-14?
Some people ask: “Why should I care about the national debt?” Here’s why it directly affects families across Hillsborough County:
Interest payments crowd out everything else. The federal government now spends more on interest payments on the debt than on defense or Medicare. As interest costs grow, there is less money available for veterans’ services, infrastructure, disaster relief, and everything else FL-14 communities rely on. See our deeper federal interest payments breakdown for FL-14 families.
Inflation. Printing money to cover deficits drives inflation. The price increases Florida families have experienced at the grocery store and gas pump over the past several years are directly linked to reckless federal spending.
Future tax burdens. Every dollar borrowed today is a dollar plus interest that future Floridians — our children and grandchildren — will have to repay. Running deficits is a hidden tax on future generations.
Economic risk. A growing debt load weakens America’s credit standing internationally, raises borrowing costs across the entire economy, and makes the U.S. more vulnerable to economic shocks.
Why Hasn’t Congress Passed a Balanced Budget Amendment?
The short answer: it’s politically uncomfortable. Cutting spending and balancing the budget means making hard choices that career politicians would rather avoid.
A BBA has come close to passing before. In 1995, the House passed a version that fell just one vote short in the Senate. Since then, the debt has increased by more than $25 trillion — and Congress has done almost nothing.
This is exactly the problem with career politicians who stay in Washington for nine terms or more: they prioritize the next election over the next generation.
What a BBA Would Actually Require Congress to Do
Critics of the Balanced Budget Amendment often argue that it would force devastating cuts to essential services. That framing is misleading.
What a BBA would actually require is something far more basic: Congress would have to make choices — real choices, with real trade-offs — instead of simply borrowing the difference between what it wants to spend and what it collects in taxes.
The federal government currently spends hundreds of billions of dollars annually on programs that overlap, duplicate each other, or produce no measurable results. A Government Accountability Office report identified over 100 separate federal workforce training programs across multiple agencies — most of which cannot demonstrate meaningful employment outcomes for participants. A BBA would force Congress to decide which of those programs to fund and which to eliminate, rather than funding all of them on borrowed money. The structural complement to a BBA is federal program sunset clauses and reauthorization, which force a regular vote on whether each program still earns its funding.
The federal government pays billions in improper payments every year — to deceased Social Security recipients, to contractors who stopped delivering services, to programs that have been administratively terminated but whose payments continue because no one is accountable for stopping them. A BBA would create the kind of fiscal urgency that makes fixing those systems a priority rather than a perpetually deferred task.
None of this requires cutting Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ benefits, or national defense. Those programs together represent roughly two-thirds of federal spending, and the earned benefits within them represent commitments that must be honored. The waste that needs to be eliminated — duplicative contractors, administrative bloat, programs that have never worked — is real and substantial.
Why FL-14 Families Should Care
For families in Brandon, Riverview, Plant City, and Sun City Center, the national debt is not an abstraction. It is the mechanism through which Washington’s fiscal irresponsibility becomes their daily financial reality.
When the federal government borrows to cover its deficit, it must offer higher interest rates on Treasury bonds to attract buyers. Those higher rates ripple through the entire economy — pushing up mortgage rates for families trying to buy homes in fast-growing eastern Hillsborough communities, raising car loan rates, and increasing business borrowing costs for small employers in Brandon and Plant City who need capital to grow and hire.
The inflation that has squeezed FL-14 family budgets over the past several years was not an act of God. It was the predictable consequence of the largest peacetime spending surge in American history, financed by a combination of money creation and deficit borrowing. A Balanced Budget Amendment would not prevent every future inflation spike, but it would eliminate the structural deficit spending that has become the baseline condition of American fiscal policy.
Every family in this district that has balanced a household budget, every small business owner who has managed cash flow, every retiree on a fixed income who has had to make hard choices about what they can afford — all of them already understand the principle behind a Balanced Budget Amendment. Washington should be required to understand it too.
My Commitment to Fiscal Responsibility
I’m running for Congress in Florida’s 14th Congressional District because I believe in fiscal accountability — the same kind families and businesses practice every day. As your Congressman, I will:
- Cosponsor and actively advocate for a Balanced Budget Amendment
- Oppose any spending bill that lacks a credible offset — no more blank checks
- Support a line-item veto to allow the President to cut wasteful spending from omnibus bills
- Publicly report on wasteful spending from an FL-14 perspective each quarter
- Oppose raising the debt ceiling without meaningful spending reforms attached
After nine terms — eighteen years in Washington — Kathy Castor’s voting record is one of consistent partisan votes for federal expansion, not the practical fiscal accountability FL-14 families need. Washington needs to hear from people who have actually managed a budget, met a payroll, and made hard financial decisions. I’ve done that my entire career. Hillsborough County — and our country — deserves that kind of leadership in Congress.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Balanced Budget Amendment?
A Balanced Budget Amendment is a proposed constitutional amendment that would legally require Congress to pass a federal budget in which spending does not exceed revenue in any given fiscal year. Forty-nine of fifty U.S. states already operate under balanced-budget rules. The federal government is the only exception.
How big is the U.S. national debt right now?
The U.S. national debt has surpassed $36 trillion. The federal government runs an annual deficit of roughly $2 trillion — meaning Washington borrows that much more than it collects in revenue every year.
Would a Balanced Budget Amendment cut Social Security or Medicare?
No. Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ benefits, and national defense together represent roughly two-thirds of federal spending and reflect commitments that must be honored. A BBA would force Congress to address waste, duplication, and improper payments first — not earned benefits.
Has Congress ever come close to passing a BBA?
Yes. In 1995, the House passed a version of the Balanced Budget Amendment that fell just one vote short in the Senate. Since then, the federal debt has grown by more than $25 trillion and Congress has not seriously revisited the proposal.
How does the national debt affect FL-14 families directly?
Federal deficit spending raises interest rates across the economy, pushing up mortgage rates, car loan rates, and small-business borrowing costs in Brandon, Riverview, Plant City, and across Hillsborough County. It also drives inflation that erodes the purchasing power of every paycheck and every fixed-income retirement check.
Stand for fiscal responsibility in FL-14
Forty-nine states do it. Every family does it. Washington must finally do it too.
Donate to John Peters’ campaign or contact the campaign to get involved. See John’s full plan on fiscal responsibility and the issues that matter most to FL-14.