Reading · Inside Amending

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is co-hosting the most prominent national debt crisis event in several years: Reining In America’s National Debt Once and for All—Featuring Governor Ron DeSantis. Also featured at this all-star event is Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation chair and former Comptroller General Dave Walker.

Thank you, AEI and co-host Balanced Budget Now! for including panels mainstreaming the single effective solution to the debt crisis: state Article V power to propose the urgently needed fiscal responsibility amendment.

Over the past three years, the FFSF team has spoken personally with most of the esteemed panelists. These conversations have emphasized some key understandings that I urge both panelists and questioners to raise at the event:

Predicates 1 and 2.

Congress cannot shake its debt addiction without a constitutional amendment binding on both parties and across Administrations. Quantifying the debt crisis and begging Congress to address it is having almost zero impact on Congress. Listen to panelist and House Budget Committee chair Jodey Arrington if you have any doubt about these two predicates.

Predicate 3.

The states have recognized for decades that they must exercise their equal power under Article V to propose the needed amendment. The states have submitted valid Article V applications to Congress in sufficient number (34 or more) over the years 1979-2004 and 2016-2017. These applications triggered a continuing obligation by Congress to call the convention for proposing a fiscal responsibility amendment.

Predicate 4.

Congress has ignored state fiscal responsibility applications since 1979 when key Congressional leaders hatched the modern “runaway convention” fear mongering campaign. Chairman Arrington has called it a “constitutional travesty” that Congress has failed to adhere to its non-discretionary obligation to call this amending convention.

Speaking for myself and not for FFSF and not intending to be unnecessarily critical, the Balanced Budget Now! strategy is to sidestep “runaway convention” fear mongering by persuading five more state legislatures to add to the present 28 having unrescinded single-subject fiscal responsibility (aka balanced budget) applications. Getting to one state short of 34, BBN assumes that Congress will respond as it did in 1912 by proposing the 17^th amendment providing for the direct election of U.S. Senators.

Question for panelists: without litigation, why will Congress respond to 33 applications given that it has failed to respond to 34+ since 1979?

The timely-enough alternative is that one or more state Attorneys General file litigation to enforce state amending power. Litigation is procedurally ripe now and, if successful, can result in ratification of an amendment soon enough to avert fiscal meltdown.

Federal Debt, The Bond Market, and Household Financial Stress

Credit, Wall Street Journal, added federal deficits and 10-year Treasury rates

June 3 AEI Event Mainstreams State Amending Power

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