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As the US slides toward $40 trillion in debt, we have very little time to act. And by “we” I mean We the People acting through our state legislatures.

by Max Borders – September 11, 2024

The time has come to confront the stark reality: Servicing the US federal debt is not just abstract numbers on a ledger. It is a ticking time bomb.

Currently, US debt stands at almost $36 trillion.

What will happen when the interest payment finally explodes? A red-ink ocean threatens to sink the federal government and drown our economy. If we don’t act now, our children will be handed the bill and a dirty mop.

Yet, today, when it comes to spending, there is no end in sight. Service on this debt now exceeds our already grotesque military budget.

Neither party is interested in meaningful reform. Short-term political incentives leave us vulnerable to adversaries such as China, who patiently await our insolvency. Such threatens our rights and freedoms and permits powerful authorities to operate outside the law, especially the Constitution.

Even though this timebomb is the gravest crisis of our time, neither political party nor candidate is talking about it.

So, we will have to clean up the mess.

We have a tool at our disposal—one that has been used repeatedly over the last four centuries.

Our Constitution gives us the means to take action. This approach has a proven track record, too. With over 1000 successful standard operations recorded in our history—the most recent occurring in 2017—we can do it again.

Phoenix Convention of States, Sept. 2017. This was a Planning convention for a BBA which is now referred to as a fiscal responsibility anemdment.

Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides two methods for proposing amendments to the Constitution. Amendments can be proposed either by a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures.

Once an amendment is proposed, it must be ratified by three-quarters (38 out of 50) of the state legislatures or by conventions held in three-quarters of the states, depending on the method of ratification chosen by Congress.

Our power lies in the states-based solution.

The proposal would revise the current rules governing congressional appropriations. The convention would propose a fiscal responsibility amendment limiting Congress ability to waver outside of Constitutional controls. It would likely include a limiting feature for emergencies with a time limit to renew or end the emergency action. There are several options available with which to model the proposed amendment.

Matthew Allen stated that Swiss voters approved the “debt brake” in 2001 and implemented it in 2003. Over the ensuing decade, the Swiss government successfully reduced its debt, which had soared to dangerous levels during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Economist Barry Poulson has highlighted the effectiveness of Switzerland’s “debt brake,” a constitutional fiscal rule enacted through a referendum that garnered support from 85 percent of voters. The “debt brake” is a robust constraint on government spending because it is enshrined in the Swiss constitution. When politicians breach these fiscal rules, citizens can enforce compliance through the legal system.

By 2012, government debt had been reduced by CHF20 billion ($23 billion) from its 2005 peak, and the debt-to-GDP ratio fell from 53 percent to 37 percent. This fiscal discipline contrasted sharply with other countries that—during the financial crisis of 2008—struggled to manage their debt burdens due to plummeting tax revenues and soaring interest payments.

Back in the US, Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) is often regarded as the gold standard for state-level fiscal rules. Adopted by voters in 1992, TABOR limits the growth of most state revenues to the rate of inflation plus population growth. If the state government collects more revenue than TABOR allows, the excess is refunded to taxpayers. Over the past 32 years, TABOR has resulted in $8.2 billion in tax rebates, strengthening public confidence in the amendment’s ability to limit government spending and protect taxpayer interests.

It is time to harness this more muscular assertion of states’ rights. Since the American founding, ultimate power has been vested in the people. Now is the time to stand up, speak up, show up, and take it. We must reclaim our authority to act where the federal government has failed.

If we do not, collapse looms.

We cannot let that happen.

Today, incentives in all the usual avenues work against federal reform, but through the strength of our states, it’s possible to pull the federal government back from the precipice.

This is our last chance.

Underthrow