Why the Right Whales Died

Why the Right Whales Died

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

Balanced Budget Amendment, Truth About Trailer Parks

Episode: Balanced Budget Amendment, Truth About Trailer Parks

  • Nov 15, 2017
  • 13:12 mins

Guest: Erin Meyer-Gutbrod, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara  Things are not right among the world’s North Atlantic right whales. They’re a highly endangered species and over the summer 15 of them turned up dead in US and Canadian waters. That’s a major blow, considering there are fewer than 500 on the planet as it is. Another year like 2017 could wipe them out entirely, according to research coauthored by Erin Meyer-Gutbrod.

Other Segments

Will We Ever Have a Balanced Budget Amendment?

19m

Guest: Ernest Istook, Former Republican Congressman from Oklahoma, Lecturer at Utah Valley University For years, Republicans—and some Democrats—have called for a “Balanced Budget Amendment” to be added to the US Constitution that would make it illegal for the federal government to spend more than it takes in.  But, if Republicans manage to pass the tax cuts they’ve proposed, they’ll add an estimated one-and-a-half trillion dollars to the deficit over ten years. The hope is that cutting taxes will lead to economic growth to counteract that deficit increase. But what does it really matter if the federal government spends more than it brings in? Do we really want to force Congress to balance the checkbook every year? And is amending the Constitution of the United States really the way to go?

Guest: Ernest Istook, Former Republican Congressman from Oklahoma, Lecturer at Utah Valley University For years, Republicans—and some Democrats—have called for a “Balanced Budget Amendment” to be added to the US Constitution that would make it illegal for the federal government to spend more than it takes in.  But, if Republicans manage to pass the tax cuts they’ve proposed, they’ll add an estimated one-and-a-half trillion dollars to the deficit over ten years. The hope is that cutting taxes will lead to economic growth to counteract that deficit increase. But what does it really matter if the federal government spends more than it brings in? Do we really want to force Congress to balance the checkbook every year? And is amending the Constitution of the United States really the way to go?