It was nearly 50 years ago that a liberal Congress completely dominated by Democrat big spenders passed a new set of budget rules — the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

It has been a complete and unmitigated disaster. Since the act’s passage, the budget has been balanced four times and unbalanced 46 times. This was by design. Despite being called a “budget reform” law, the act was intended to grease the skids for new spending, but even Congress members the ’70s who designed it that way couldn’t have imagined the Pandora’s box of spending and debt it uncorked.

The law’s intention was to loosen restrictions on congressional spending, and to that extent, it worked.

Updated: Tue Apr 30, 2024