Has the world's richest man been reading the Convention of States blog?
Probably not, but Elon Musk just pointed out two inconvenient truths we've been highlighting since we launched in 2013.
In response to a Babylon Bee headline about the $30 trillion national debt, Musk noted that the national debt is "unsustainable" and the federal government lies about its true size.
True national debt, including unfunded entitlements, is at least $60 trillion – roughly three times the size of the entire US economy. Something has got to give.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 11, 2022
The late U.S. Senator and Convention of States Senior Advisor Tom Coburn used make exactly these observations. Because the federal government doesn't use generally accepted accounting principles, federal officials can simply ignore unfunded liabilities. These are debts that the U.S. government knows it must pay, but they aren't included in the official calculations of the national debt.
This is like not including your mortgage when assessing your level of debt. It's a massive, dishonest hole in how Washington calculates the health of our country's economy, and like Musk says, "Something has to give."
That "something" can be one of two things. We can allow the federal government to continue spending our country into the ground until our children and grandchildren are forced to carry the burden via massive tax increases and other austerity measures (if not a complete financial collapse).
Or, we can call a Convention of States to force members of Congress to do their jobs and cut spending.
A Convention of States is called and controlled by the states and has the power to propose constitutional amendments. These amendments can, among other things, require a balanced budget without raising taxes.
Such an amendment would compel Congress to do what it never will on its own: slash useless and duplicative government programs meant to bribe Americans into voting for a particular candidate.
The federal government is bloated and corrupt. Our elected officials will never address this bloat unless We the People force their hand. Voting for "better" politicians hasn't worked. It's time for a new solution, and we've found one in Article V of the Constitution.
Sign the petition below to get involved!
