What Would Hamilton Do?

There is a paradox in the position of the “tea party” conservatives that has so far escaped much comment. On the one hand, they think the country would be better off if we governed ourselves according to the principles of the Founders and the Constitution, from which the tea partiers think we have departed drastically. On the other hand, they favor an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced budget. Such an amendment, however, would not simply add to the work of the founders; it would positively undo part of it. For the Constitution, as it stands and as the Founders crafted it, empowers the Congress to “borrow money on the credit of the United States.” The Founders, evidently, intended that the government be capable of incurring debt.