Abraham Lincoln: Constitution on Government Borrowing
on Wednesday, June 22, 2011Abraham Lincoln Money Quotation saying Abe was opposed to federal government borrowing and wanted to amend the consitution to stop the practice, but failed. Abraham Lincoln said:
“I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our constitution taking from the federal government their power of borrowing” — Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham Lincoln wanted to amend the Constitution to take away the federal government’s power of borrowing. He felt strongly that the government should not be able to borrow money. Lincoln likely believed that the government should balance its budget each year and not run deficits, relying instead on tax revenue to fund operations.
Amending the Constitution would have made it impossible for Congress to authorize new government borrowing and debt. However, Lincoln was not able to successfully pass such a constitutional amendment before his death.