Foy: Convention of States necessary to ‘demand accountability’

The Convention of States resolution, Senate Concurrent Resolution 100, will be voted on in the Delaware Senate this spring. Why is it so critical that we hold this convention? The reality is that Congress will never limit its own power or rein in its own spending.

In the last 50 years, the national debt has risen from $500 billion to over $34 trillion. This has happened regardless of which party controls the White House or who controls Congress. How are we ever going to pay off such a massive debt? We can look at history for lessons on what happens to countries who let spending spiral out of control. The Roman Empire created cheap coins in place of valuable metals until the money was worthless, and the currency crashed. More recently, in Germany, just after World War I, the Weimar Republic printed money to pay its war debts, which led to massive inflation. Other countries have tried the same approach, leading to hyperinflation and a crash of their economies.

We like to think that a powerful country like the United States will never have to pay the reckoning, but we can’t continue on this road forever. No one in Congress wants to be the bad guy and insist on fiscal responsibility. The states must do that, since Congress won’t. The only solution is for the states to hold a convention and pass an amendment that demands accountability. We owe no less to our children and grandchildren.

Susan Foy

Bear

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