{"id":3484,"date":"2026-07-15T14:41:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484"},"modified":"2026-07-15T14:41:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:41:20","slug":"the-national-debt-is-over-100-of-gdp-and-most-of-congress-is-ignoring-wishes-to-rein-it-in-its-time-to-amend-the-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484","title":{"rendered":"The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>One can clearly grasp the problem associated with excessive government debt by looking at the interest burden linked to America\u2019s current debt level. In Fiscal 2025, 36.5% of individual income taxes collected were used to pay interest on the national debt. So, over a third of Americans\u2019 individual income tax dollars were siphoned away and not used for the provision of government goods, services, and transfer payments.\u00a0 If that\u2019s not bad enough, current taxpayers are shelling out a big slice of their taxes to service debt taken on in the past to finance government spending in years gone by, years in which some current taxpayers weren\u2019t of voting age or might not have even been born yet. But this isn\u2019t the end of the story. The CBO projects that by 2036 an estimated 50.6% of Americans\u2019 individual income tax dollars will be devoted solely to servicing the government\u2019s debt.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3482\">\u2018Special thanks to the Scots for\u00a0drinking all the beer\u2019: Mass. governor seals World Cup with welcoming ceremony for an orange traffic cone<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the past, Washington has attempted to rein in deficit spending and the accumulation of debt. Indeed, Congress periodically engages in a debt ceiling charade, which wastes a lot of time and energy and limits nothing. In addition, there have been more serious attempts at statutory restraints: the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 and its Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rule, the Budget Control Act of 2011, and, most notably, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Each attempt at statutory control has failed. For example, Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, perhaps the most serious attempt to eliminate fiscal follies, promised to gradually reduce federal deficits until 1991, when a balanced budget would be achieved. However, in 1987, Congress postponed the implementation of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings for two years and, in 1990, abandoned it entirely.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>With Congress proving time and again that it is incapable of exercising fiscal control, what can be done? As it turns out, the Founders provided an option. Article V of the U.S. Constitution lays out the pathway to a fiscal responsibility amendment.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, back in 1979, 39 states filed active applications for a Constitutional convention that would be limited to proposing a fiscal responsibility amendment: a fact fully documented by the Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation in September 2025.\u00a0As of 1979, federal debt held by the public was $640 billion, only 2% of the current level. Under Article V, Congress \u201cshall call\u201d a convention to consider one or more amendments if two-thirds (34) of the states file applications. Congress\u2019s obligation to call a convention under Article V is non-discretionary. Yet, not wanting to face the possibility of having its fiscal hands tied, Congress has failed to act on its express Constitutional obligation.<\/p>\n<p>Facing a looming debt crisis, serious voices have called for consideration of a Constitutional amendment. For example, at an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) forum on June 3, current and former policymakers, leading economists, and fiscal reform advocates, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, former Senator Max Baucus of Montana, Senator Steve Daines of Montana, former Ohio Governor John Kasich, former Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, former New Hampshire Governor Christopher T. Sununu, and this column\u2019s co-author David Walker, came together to discuss how to rein in America\u2019s national debt once and for all.<\/p>\n<p>Just what might a fiscal responsibility amendment look like? We believe an amendment that caps debt as a percent of GDP is the best path forward. The language for such an amendment might read along the following lines:<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3480\">Taco Bell \u2018voluntarily and temporarily\u2019 cuts ingredients as investigators probe dodgy lettuce behind worst outbreak of its kind<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Federal debt held by the public shall not exceed 110% of gross domestic product (GDP) as reported by the Treasury Department, absent a formal Declaration of War in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. Effective no later than the end of Fiscal 2040, federal debt held by the public shall not exceed 90% of GDP absent a formal Declaration of War in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution or due to an unexpected and temporary national emergency with a two-thirds vote by both houses of the Congress and the concurrence of the President. Any waiver votes under this amendment must occur for each fiscal year the limit would otherwise be violated. Congress shall enact legislation to operationalize these requirements within a year of ratification of this Amendment. The legislative provision must include gradual and continual reductions in federal debt held by the public as a percent of GDP between the date of enactment and Fiscal 2040 with automatic enforcement mechanisms. Any member of the Senate or House who is in office in a year that this Amendment is not fully complied with shall not be eligible for re-election.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Before our fiscal time bomb explodes, it is time to convene a limited Constitutional convention dedicated to crafting a fiscal responsibility amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Since a majority of current active state Article V applications (28) are limited to fiscal responsibility, only a limited convention can be assured. The pieces are in place. The time for action is now.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Steve Hanke is a Senior Contributing Columnist at Fortune, a professor of applied economics at The Johns Hopkins University, and a member of the Board of Directors at the Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation. He is the co-editor, with Barry W. Poulson and John Merrifield, of Public Debt Sustainability: International Perspectives (Lexington Books, 2022). David M. Walker is the former Comptroller General of the United States and the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of\u00a0<\/em>Fortune<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3479\">\u2018I\u2019m Joe Lombardo\u2019: Nevada governor stopped by police, let go without citation<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One can clearly grasp the problem associated with excessive government debt by looking at the interest burden linked<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-debt"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One can clearly grasp the problem associated with excessive government debt by looking at the interest burden linked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-15T14:41:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-15T14:41:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484\"},\"wordCount\":996,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/370bcbe9fc5d911317fb10678bd5ea43.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"national debt\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484\",\"name\":\"The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/370bcbe9fc5d911317fb10678bd5ea43.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-15T14:41:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/370bcbe9fc5d911317fb10678bd5ea43.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/370bcbe9fc5d911317fb10678bd5ea43.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3484#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"One can clearly grasp the problem associated with excessive government debt by looking at the interest burden linked","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-07-15T14:41:20+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution","datePublished":"2026-07-15T14:41:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484"},"wordCount":996,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/370bcbe9fc5d911317fb10678bd5ea43.webp","articleSection":["national debt"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484","name":"The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/370bcbe9fc5d911317fb10678bd5ea43.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-15T14:41:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/370bcbe9fc5d911317fb10678bd5ea43.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/370bcbe9fc5d911317fb10678bd5ea43.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3484#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The national debt is over 100% of GDP and most of Congress is ignoring wishes to rein it in. It\u2019s time to amend the Constitution"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}