BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT . . . HANG ONTO YOUR HATS

The Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee today approved abalanced budget amendmentto the U.S. Constitution by a vote of 15-3. The issue is expected to be taken up by the full Senate and the House by next week. The finance committee turned back a Democratic amendment to the bill which would have forced Congress to spell out precisely which programs would be cut to balance the books, as well as one which would have exempted Social Security from the calculations.