In addition to commemorating the 651,031 Americans who lost their lives in wars, Memorial Day and other soon-to-be-celebrated patriotic commemorations — such as Flag Day and Independence Day — should inspire elected officials to act as soon as possible to hold an Article V convention to restore essential political safeguards that helped to make this nation great in the past.
Mismanagement and waste in government agencies, exemplified by the disastrous conditions at hospitals run by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), show the need for serious reforms at the national level, changes that can’t be made through normal legislative processes.
The airmen, Marines, and soldiers who lost their lives in our nation’s armed conflicts would be ashamed of the current state of politics in America. Our national government faces an annual budget deficit of $511 billion and a national debt of $19.2 trillion. Although the Republican-controlled Congress has been working on a balanced budget amendment, a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress is necessary to approve a constitutional amendment, and the lack of Democrat co-sponsorship makes it all but impossible to achieve the needed reform.
This should not be a partisan issue. Americans of all political stripes are acknowledging their disgust with the current political gridlock. According to a poll released on May 19 by CBS News and The New York Times, 77 percent of people say they disapprove of the job performance of Congress.
