Op-Ed Author: Thomas Llewellyn

 

We’ve all been there.

Whether someone is doing something foolish or just being disruptive, we first ask them to stop the nonsense and start acting reasonably.

But when it comes to asking Congress to stop the reckless and self-destructive deficit spending, our efforts have fallen-on-deaf-ears.

In the past, it was reasonable for the States to expect a favorable reaction from Congress when several Article V Applications were passed, petitioning Congress to act on various matters, such as the direct election of U.S. Senators.

However, in the case of the overwhelming nationwide concern about the mounting federal debt, and the need to stop the unsustainable spending level of Congress, nothing is having any effect. Congress is adamant about not abiding with spending checks at all. Its attempts to self-regulate spending have been useless, e.g., Graham-Rudman or establishing annual debt-limits. Even after we elected new representatives, Congress has continued to simply ignore our pleas.

Now, with the federal debt approaching $40 Trillion, it is time to escalate the situation. America cannot survive much longer if we continue to add Trillions each year to the federal debt. It is the obligation of the States to take immediate Constitutional action to gather under the authority of Article V and propose an amendment that would force congressional fiscal compliance.

It is well documented that over 34-States have passed Article V Applications, authorizing a Convention to draft a Fiscal Responsibility Amendment. The problem is that Congress has continued to obstruct the right of the States to gather under the authority of Article V by ignoring its Constitutional duty to “count and call” the hundreds of State Applications received over the years.

When asked why, Congress admitted that they had “no internal process to administer” its Article V responsibilities. When the States discovered that Congress has avoided even a modicum of transparency by never reporting a 46-year-old achievement of the States crossing the 34-State Article V threshold, the resulting silence was deafening.

When it comes to Article V, it is no wonder that confidence by the States in Congress has since quickly evaporated. It is clear given decades of gross Constitutional negligence, Congress has no inclination of willingly resuming the State’s equal access to the Article V process.

Clearly, the States are justified in giving up their trust concerning the ability of Congress to perform any further Article V tasks. As a direct result of this loss of trust that their Constitutional rights under Article V will be protected, the States are prepared to immediately advance an Article V Convention without them.

No doubt, once a State announces that they are ready to host an Article V Convention, Congress will follow suit and concur with the state “call” rather than bring more attention to the irrefutable evidence of Congressional gross negligence in the matter.

Whatever the immediate outcome, either through the high-profile political embarrassment of Congress or by means of the Courts ultimately forcing the call, an Article V Convention to propose a Fiscal Responsibility Amendment will be advanced. Hopefully this can still happen in time to avoid a major economic calamity brought on by treasury note default or a sudden lack of confidence that America can get serious about fixing this out-of-control four-decade-long spending binge of Congress.

It is now the right, the obligation and duty of the States to proceed with an immediate Article V Convention announcement, with or without any further action of Congress.

Given the pending financial threat to the States if this “Goes South”, the only question remaining is, “Which State is ready to immediately announce that they are prepared to host this pivotal event?

Let’s target March 16, 2026 (James Madison’s birthday) for the first Constitutionally authorized Article V Convention in American history!