It's Time to Stop Overthinking Article V
It is a good thing that more and more constitutional scholars have opinions about the Article V "Convention of States." But many have developed incredibly complicated legal theories as to why states or their legislatures or Congress do (or do not) control the proposal of amendments by convention. Folks are hung up on whether the 10th Amendment applies, whether state governments have a role in directing the process, whether Congress has a call power or duty, whether state legi
Want to Fix the Debt? Better Know the Truth.
As the cry for state leadership in fixing the national debt grows louder, there are those who have responded by reviving the 1970s and 80s effort to organize a convention of the states for proposing a federal Balanced Budget Amendment.
This effort, led by the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force, is premised on the belief that there are 27 resolutions calling for a BBA convention—only 7 short of the magic number of 34 needed to form the Application that triggers Congress’s
Re-introducing Article V 2.0!
With U.S. Senator Rubio and now Texas Governor Abbott supporting efforts by the states to propose amendments by Article V convention, there is no better time to learn more about the Compact for a Balanced Budget! So here's a chance to review our completely updated and revised policy brief: "Article V 2.0: The Compact for a Balanced Budget!" Already Alaska, Georgia, Mississippi and North Dakota have joined the "Compact for a Balanced Budget." The Compact for a Balanced Budget
Everyday is Black Friday for Washington
Imagine if you had a limitless credit card you never had to repay on Black Friday. Now consider something a bit different: Imagine if, to keep your job, you had to compete for votes with someone who was willing to use that magic credit card to buy votes, build monuments, and otherwise do whatever it takes to get elected. How long would it be before you trampled over future generations in headlong pursuit of buying whatever shiny bauble kept you ahead of candidate Jones? If yo
Want to Make a Difference?
Some folks claim that a federal Balanced Budget Amendment would not make a difference. That may be true of some BBA proposals. But it is not true about the BBA at the heart of the Compact for a Balanced Budget. There’s a reason why Georgia, Alaska, Mississippi and North Dakota have already signed onto it. There’s a reason why more than twenty leading think tanks have joined the educational movement. There’s a reason why it has been endorsed by Lawrence Reed of the Foundation
What We Worry?
How huge and looming is that national debt crisis? The Brookings Institution recently declared it’s “worse than you think.” Take a look at this chart: Notice that interest is only 6% of the pie. That’s with interest rates that are half of historical levels. What happens if that 6% share becomes 12% because interest rates normalize? What happens if interest rates go back to 1970s levels, and the interest share expands to 24% of the pie or more? We submit to you any increase in
What Good is Another Parchment Barrier?
Those who oppose states using their power to originate amendments under Article V often start with the question, “Why amend the Constitution when nobody follows the Constitution as written?” This question is flawed in two respects. First, it overstates the degree to which the Constitution is not followed. The truth of the matter is that much of the substance of the Bill of Rights retains its force, especially the First and Second Amendments in recent years. In non-national se
Less Debt Means Less Borrowing Cost
To illustrate the wisdom of supporting the Compact for a Balanced Budget, I wanted to share with you an email I received from one of our Educational Foundation’s Council of Scholars Members, Stephen Slivinski, who is a former Federal Reserve economist and is now Senior Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University. If you want to look at his mug, look to the left. Anyway, Steve wrote me in response to a request for research on the
Who on the Right Likes the Compact?
Did you know that the Compact for a Balanced Budget has been endorsed by numerous leading and unimpeachably Center-Right intellectuals? Here are just a few: “Don’t sit back and fret about runaway government. Get involved, take responsibility and help save the country. Support the Compact for America’s balanced budget amendment - easily the single best vehicle to stop the sin of spending recklessly today and burdening our children and grandchildren with the tab. Your conscienc
The Six Words that Describe the Compact for a Balanced Budget
Here are the six words that capture the essence of the Compact for a Balanced Budget: Certainty: The Compact delivers certainty by pre-committing 38 states and simple majorities of Congress to everything involved in advancing, proposing and ratifying a federal Balanced Budget Amendment before an Article V convention is organized. Safety: The Compact promises safety by limiting the Article V convention it organizes to a 24 hour up-or-down vote on a specific federal Balanced Bu
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