Federal Deficit Amendment

Editor, Times-Union:
U.S. Federal Deficit/Surplus by Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year Deficit(-) or Surplus (+)
1996 -$107 billion
1997 -$22 billion
1998 +69 billion (surplus)
1999 +126 billion (surplus)
2000 +236 billion (surplus)
2001 +128 billion (surplus)
2002 -$158 billion
2003 -$378 billion
2004 -$413 billion
2005 -$318 billion
2006 -$248 billion
2007 -$161 billion
2008 -$459 billion
2009 -$1.41 trillion
2011 -$1.30 trillion
2012 -$1.08 trillion
2013 -$680 billion
2014 -$485 billion
2015 -$442 billion
2016 -$585 billion
2017 -$665 billion
2018 -$779 billion
2019 -$984 billion
2020 -$3.10 trillion
2021 -$2.78 trillion
2022 -$1.38 trillion
2023 -$1.70 trillion
2024 -$1.82 trillion
A constitutional amendment requiring that federal budget deficits greater than 500 billion must be approved by a two-thirds majority of Congress and only for war, recession or genuine national emergencies, anything past 900 billion for a fiscal year must be approved by a two-thirds majority of Congress and a two-thirds majority of the state legislatures.
Please contact your representatives and senators in Congress to help start the process in bringing our deficits and national debt under control
Alexander Houze
Leesburg