Balanced Budget Amendment

The idea behind a balanced budget is great, but limiting ourselves to a balanced budget with a constitutional amendment limits the flexibility government has with its money.
Many states, such as California, have had crippling debt problems, often because they are required to have a balanced budget.  While this is good for states and localities, national governments need the flexibility that comes with a temporarily unbalanced budget.
We need to cut spending gradually, not all at once.  While the Republicans are correct that we need extreme change to the spending in our nation, a balanced budget amendment is not the best way to do it.