A Retroactive Suggestion

[ndrosen]

If I had been in Philadelphia in 1787, I think I would have tried to have a word with some of the delegates to what became the Constitutional Convention. “Sir, I largely admire what you and your colleagues are striving to accomplish, but, Sir, if I may make a suggestion, there are grounds for concern about Congress having the power to borrow on the credit of the United States. Sir, might I propose a supermajority requirement, or a need to hold a popular referendum or obtain authorization from a majority of the legislatures of the several States to increase the national debt in time of peace? Sir, I ask you to consider that it may be in the interest of future Congressmen to expand federal spending without immediately raising taxes on their constituents, Sir, and yet, Sir, that doing so may not serve the publick good in the long term.”