Citizens Dedicated To Preserving Our Constitutional Republic
MADISON, Wis. — By the time President Barack Obama leaves office this week, the U.S. debt will be approaching $20 trillion.
Fiscal conservatives say it’s long past time to deal with the mess.
A Wisconsin lawmaker says the Badger State will soon take a big step toward getting the federal government’s fiscal house in order.
State Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, said he will soon introduce a bill calling for Wisconsin to join the much-discussed Article V convention of the states that would draft a federal balanced budget amendment.
Another initiative elsewhere calls for a package amendment that would limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government and impose federal term limits.
The constitution includes two mechanisms to bring amendments: through Congress and by a convention the states. Under Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution, it takes two-thirds of the states to call a convention. That magic number is 34 states.
TAKE V: State Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, said he expects introduction of an Article V resolution soon. Wisconsin would join 28 other states seeking a balanced federal budget amendment.
As of late last year, a reported 28 states had gone on record in support of a convention of states to discuss a balanced budget amendment.
Eight states have passed a resolution for application for the broader package amendment, and 30 others are considering doing so, according to constitutional law attorney Michael Farris, co-founder of the Convention of States Project.
Wisconsin is among several states with Republican-controlled legislatures expected to pass and file a resolution seeking a convention for a federal balanced budget amendment.
“Wisconsin will be rolling that out very quickly this session,” said Kapenga, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Benefits, Licensing and State-Federal Relations.
The committee is expected to play a pivotal role in helping to restore power — grabbed over the years by the federal government — back to the states.
Kapenga has been a leader of the Article V movement in Wisconsin and nationally.
“We’ve got the jurisdiction to amend the Constitution,” Kapenga told fellow lawmakers from across the nation during a 2014 meeting in Washington, D.C., regarding the proposed convention. “… History shows that there’s this centralization of power, and it doesn’t matter what civilization, this is a trend that you can look back on. There’s a centralization of power which always ends up leading to abuse.”
Supporters in Wisconsin have a powerful ally in Gov. Scott Walker. The Republican governor told listeners last month in a telephone town hall that he would support Wisconsin’s resolution calling for a convention of states.
Article V conventions, like the congressional process, don’t guarantee success.
“[An amendment] has to be ratified by 38 states,” Kapenga said. “That convention does not create an amendment to the Constitution. It creates the wording, just like Congress can at any point in time, for the ratification process to happen.”
The Tea Party movement in the early years of Obama’s first term in office lit a fire under the longstanding Article V movement. Several states, including New Hampshire, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Michigan and the Dakotas, have in the past five years passed resolutions calling for a constitutional convention.
Liberals hate the idea of a balanced budget amendment in particular, and reining in federal authority in general.
“A balanced budget amendment would prevent the federal government from following the Keynesian strategy of stimulating the economy during an economic depression by increasing the national debt. (Since 1970, the United States has had a balanced budget in only four years: 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.),” wrote Simon Davis-Cohen last March for the liberal publication In These Times.
But $20 trillion in debt, nearly half of which is owned by foreign entities, is a recipe for disaster, insist fiscal conservatives.
“The Founders knew the federal government might one day become drunk with the abuses of power. The most important check to this power is Article V,” asserts the nonprofit free-market Convention of States, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance. The group seeks a three-pronged amendment calling for fiscal restraint, limiting the size and jurisdiction of the federal government and term limits for federal officials.
“By calling a convention of the states we can stop the federal spending and debt spree, the power grabs of the federal courts, and other misuses of federal power. The current situation is precisely what the Founders feared, and they gave us a solution we have a duty to use,” Convention of States says on its website.
Tags:
balancing the budget is not possible without driving a wedge right into Trump's economic plan. His approach makes more sense in managing the debt, expand the economy which adds revenue to the treasury. Just restrict the congress from spending the excess revenues. If revenues increase by 1% congressional spending must be less than revenues. Gradually there will be no need to borrow money to meet the budget. If you try to restrict the federal government to a point where the budget must be balanced there will be a massive restriction to growth which ends up lessing the money recieved in Washington which only exasperates the problem.
Legislative News
Congressional Quarterly
C-SPAN
Roll Call
Stateline.org
The Hill
Washington Post
Politics Section
Boston Globe
Dallas News
Denver Post
Los Angeles Times
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Stop Island Park Wildlife Overpasses
Seattle Times
NY Times
Washington Post
Washington Times
USA Today
Beltway Buzz
CQ Politics
First Read
The Hotline
The Note
The Page
Washington Wire
Mike Allen's Playbook
Politico
Roll Call
The Hill
CNN Political Ticker
The Swamp
The Fix
Washington Whispers
Fish Bowl DC
Online Political Sites
Alternative Press Index
Capitol Hill Blue
CommonDreams.org
Digg.com Politics
Drudge Report
Political Insider
Political Wire
Politico
PopPolitics
Real Clear Politics
Salon.com
Slate
Stateline.org
TCOT Report
TomPaine.com
US Politics Guide
© 2024 Created by WTPUSA. Powered by