That ignorance has a price tag—$39 trillion and climbing.
The Constitution ratified in 1789 is a short, deliberately limited document. Its preamble runs just 52 words. Seven articles and ten amendments follow.
The Framers—55 delegates, most educated in Latin, Greek, and classical rhetoric—weren’t building a government to run people’s lives. They were building a cage for government power.
About 20% of the Constitution itemizes things that the federal and state governments may not do. Only 10% is concerned with positive grants of power. The remaining 70% is structural: who holds power and how it must be exercised.
Separation of powers wasn’t a governing philosophy—it was a shield for citizens against the state.
The familiar route: Article V includes Congress to pass passing a proposed amendment with by at least a two-thirds vote in each chamber, then 38 states ratify it. All 27 existing amendments went this way.
The lesser-known route: if two-thirds of states (34) apply, Congress shall call a convention to propose amendments. Those amendments still require ratification by 38 states— so there’s no risk of a runaway rewrite of the founding document.
Since 1979, total federal debt has exploded from under $1 trillion to over $39 trillion and continues to rise rapidly That’s the direct cost of this abdication.
House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington’s H.Con.Res.15 would call exactly the kind of limited Article V convention the states have been requesting for nearly five decades—one narrowly focused on a fiscal responsibility amendment.
Members of Congress took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. Article V doesn’t give them discretion here—calling a convention when 34 states apply is a nondiscretionary duty. Ignoring it isn’t just bad governance. It’s a breach of constitutional obligation. It’s time to keep the oath.
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