Push to amend the Constitution could expand Trump’s power
wisconsinwatch.org
While it's focused on national debt, legal experts say it could open the door to other changes, such as limiting who can be a U.S. citizen.
  • A behind-the-scenes effort to force Congress to call a convention to amend the Constitution could end up helping President Donald Trump in his push to expand presidential power — or even run for a third term.
  • The effort to amend the Constitution predates Trump’s second term but carries new weight as several members of the president’s inner circle have expressed support for a convention to limit federal government spending and power.
  • A draft lawsuit obtained by WisconsinWatch and ProPublica argues Congress must call a convention. Liberal and conservative legal scholars have criticized the arguments in it, calling them “wild,” “completely illegitimate” and “deeply flawed.”
  • Some states’ requests for a constitutional convention date back centuries. “It is absurd, on the face of it, that they could count something that had to do with Prohibition as a call for a constitutional convention in 2025,” former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, said.
  • kibiz0r@midwest.socialEnglish
    4·
    5 hours ago

    balanced budget amendment

    Nonononono.

    The federal government has achieved fiscal balance (even surpluses) in just seven periods since 1776, bringing in enough revenue to cover all of its spending during 1817-21, 1823-36, 1852-57, 1867-73, 1880-93, 1920-30 and 1998-2001. We have also experienced six depressions. They began in 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1893 and 1929.

    Do you see the correlation?

    The one exception occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the dot-com and housing bubbles fueled a consumption binge that delayed the harmful effects of the Clinton surpluses until the Great Recession of 2007-09.

    Because:

    National debt is not like individual debt.

    National debt is not like individual debt.

    National debt is NOT like individual debt!

    But at least our most senior treasury officials must understand this, right?

    Treasury.gov site:

    Key Takeaways

    The national debt is composed of distinct types of debt, similar to an individual whose debt may consist of a mortgage, car loan, and credit cards.

    Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

    • themadcodger@kbin.earth
      4·
      4 hours ago

      Can you, uh, remind everyone why that is? I obviously know, but for all those people that need to hear it again?

      • kibiz0r@midwest.socialEnglish
        3·
        3 hours ago

        Good point.

        If you like video format: Finding The Money is a great documentary on how sovereign currency has worked historically, how it works in the US right now, why the national debt and spending deficits aren’t (necessarily, by themselves) something to worry about, and what to worry about instead: inflation, physical resources, and labor utilization.

        If you prefer reading: “Retiring the US debt would retire the US dollar” by Cory Doctorow is a good short read, and Stephanie Kelton has a book The Deficit Myth which I’ve heard is good too.

    • arrow74@lemm.eeEnglish
      4·
      5 hours ago

      I don’t know how to make people understand the difference between personal and national debt. It’s frustrating