Compact for America Made Easy
Claims have been made that the Compact for America approach to Article V is more “complicated” than other approaches. Actually, it is not. It requires far fewer legislative steps and stages than any other approach to Article V. And it is very easy to explain.
To prove the point, we’ve just published “Article V 2.0" in a Nutshell: The Balanced Budget Compact.
In a mere SIX pages, we give you a complete understanding of the Balanced Budget Compact, which is the first launch of the Compact for America approach to Article V.
You will see that the only sense in which the Compact for America approach is more complicated than other approaches is in that it does not leave the amendment, delegate identities, convention rules and ratification to future determination. Instead, it consolidates every stage of the state-initiated amendment process into one bill. You know exactly what you are going to get before the bill is even passed.
In other words, adopting the Compact for America approach to Article V requires citizens and policy makers to take full stock of the entire amendment process at the beginning. The awesome amendment power is not exercised until after considering all of the consequences and determining all of the necessary steps. This is in contrast to the “legacy approach” to Article V, in which policy makers are asked to vote on discrete pieces of the amendment process, often years apart, without considering or committing to the next steps that must follow.
In short, a state adopting the Balanced Budget Compact, or any other Compact for America-inspired Article V effort, is not kicking the can on any relevant policy matter to a future legislature, the convention, Congress, or the courts. A state adopting the Balanced Budget Compact is making public policy and owning it.
We regard this as a feature of the Compact for America approach, not a bug.
Plus, understanding the Compact for America approach is EASY.
Prove it for yourself by reading “Article V 2.0" in a Nutshell: the Balanced Budget Compact!
