It is time for a state to take Congress to court

Now that Constitution Day has passed, it is time to face reality. Only a fiscal responsibility constitutional amendment can force Congress to restore and sustain fiscal sanity. To light the fuse, it is time for a state attorney general to stand up and assert the rights of the states under Article V of the U.S. Constitution and hold Congress accountable for its failure to act. State attorneys general clearly have standing to sue and should do so.

Article V of the Constitution states that Congress “shall call” a convention when two-thirds of the states (34) file applications. As Alexander Hamilton emphatically declared in Federalist No. 85: “The words of this article are peremptory. The Congress ‘shall call a convention.’ Nothing in this particular is left to the discretion of that body.” Hamilton went to great lengths to make his point so that a compromise that protected states’ rights could be made to facilitate the ratification of the initial Constitution.

Over three years ago, the Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation (FFSF) determined that, as far back as 1979, a total of 39 states had active applications for an Article V amendments convention. Of the 39 states with active applications, 30 were limited to fiscal responsibility and nine were plenary applications. Total applications rose to 40 states in 1983, of which 32 were fiscal responsibility only applications. In addition, as recently as 2017, more than the required two-thirds of the states had active applications, but Congress failed to act. Importantly, rescinded applications are not included in these counts. These facts have been........

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