This week we talk about our 150th episode anniversary party, the documentary Dear Mr. President: The Letters of Julia Sand, the new $140,000-a-year poverty level, billionaire envy, and socialist deregulation of small businesses in New York City. Our guest this week is Kurt Couchman, senior fellow in fiscal policy at Americans for Prosperity and author of the excellent new book Fiscal Democracy in America: How a Balanced Budget Amendment Can Restore Sound Governance. We’ll talk about federal spending, the national debt and how it’s dragging down our economy, and why we need to add a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Free the Economy is hosted by Richard Morrison. Keep up with new episodes by following us on Twitter at @freethe_economy and read our episode summaries, with links to the stories we cover, at cei.org/blog.