Recklessness regarding growth in federal debt has been bipartisan, particularly since the year 2000. The prevailing debt limit is just a charade; congressional representatives have raised it 75 times since 1962.
Rather than throw up our hands, however, we can do something about it at the state level. State legislatures have Article V authority to amend the United States Constitution—without approval from Congress—yet they have failed to do so.
The National Debt Relief Amendment would be such an historic addition to the United States Constitution, and it is as simple as it would be effective. Consider research backing from the Pelican Institute here. It reads:
“An increase in the federal debt requires approval from a majority of the legislatures of the separate States.”
The national spokesman for this amendment, which I have supported since I became aware of it early in 2011, is State Senator Curtis Olafson of North Dakota (also the first state to pass a resolution for it, followed by Louisiana). Olafson was a recent guest on the Mike Church Show on Sirius XM, and he gives a great explanation and defense against fears about the amendments convention process. Listen in below (17 minutes):
