by Rob Natelson

The Founders built various checks and balances into the Constitution. One of the most important was the power of state legislatures to propose constitutional amendments to curb an abusive federal government. The Founders placed the procedure in the Constitution’s Article V.

The Founders would be astonished—and chagrined—to learn the process has never been used. If we complained to them about the federal government’s overreaching and fiscal incontinence, they’d probably respond, “But you’ve never used the process we gave you to deal with just this sort of situation. So it’s really your own fault.”

I’ve just written a  new, two-page flyer designed to introduce citizens to the procedure. You can find it here.

Coming soon: An update on the where the states are in getting an amendment to deal with the federal fiscal crisis.