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The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) joined more than 200 national organizations in a message today to the members of Congress calling for them to oppose any balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution.

“A balanced budget constitutional amendment would damage the economy, not strengthen it,” the coalition letter states. “Demanding that policymakers cut spending and/or raise taxes, even when the economy slows, is the opposite of what is needed to stabilize a weak economy and avert recessions.”

NTEU National President Colleen M. Kelley added “This would set arbitrary and rigid limits on the ability of Congress and the White House to react to differing economic circumstances. It is foolhardy to tie the hands of the federal government in such a fashion.”

Simply cutting spending or raising taxes “would risk tipping a faltering economy into recession or worsening an ongoing downturn, costing large numbers of jobs while blocking worthy investments to stimulate jobs and growth and address the nation’s urgent needs in infrastructure and other areas,” the letter said.

In joining the wide spectrum of 247 national organizations, NTEU condemned H. J. Res. 1, the version of the balanced budget amendment recently approved by the House Judiciary Committee. The letter criticized the proposed amendment for seeking to impose an arbitrary and severe cap on federal spending that would require deep and harmful cuts, while also creating an almost impossible legislative hurdle that would block any new revenue or attempts to close even the most egregious tax loopholes.

“A responsible deficit reduction plan must embrace both spending cuts and new revenues, including curbing special-interest tax loopholes, not a one-sided reliance on spending cuts,” the letter states. “A balanced budget amendment has no place in the Constitution of the United States. Our Constitution has served the nation well because it represents enduring principles that are the foundations of our government. It should not be used as a substitute for real leadership on fiscal policy.”

NTEU is the nation’s largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.