North Raleigh Today

Congress has already spent $6 trillion this year and is trying to pass a $1.75 trillion bill which actually costs over $3 trillion. Using budget trickery, they didn’t fund latter years of the bill. They’ll demand that later.

Its companion bill costs $1.9 trillion. A $6 trillion budget bill is lurking in wait. Federal spending has gone from dangerous to insane levels. The result is tax hikes and printing dollars causing inflation.

Gas prices anyone? Medicare insolvent by 2026; Social Security by 2034. Congress is squandering our future and that of our children and grandchildren.

Luckily the Founders gave us a way to rein in an out-of-control federal government. Article V of the Constitution allows the states to convene a convention to propose amendments, bypassing Congress. This convention is limited to only proposing amendments specified in the state resolution: (1) imposing fiscal restraints on the federal government, (2) limiting federal power and jurisdiction, and (3) imposing term limits on federal officials and members of the U.S. Congress.

House Joint Resolution (HJR) 233 calls for such a convention. It passed the NC House but is being ignored by the NC Senate. As Chairman of the Rules and Operations Committee, Sen. Bill Rabon controls the destiny of HJR 233. He can continue to let it languish or bring it up in committee for debate and a vote. Currently Sen. Rabon does not support the resolution.

Sen. Rabon’s Senate District 8 includes Brunswick, Bladen and Pender counties and part of New Hanover County. As NC Senate pro tempore, Sen. Phil Berger needs to actively vocalize his support with Sen. Rabon and other senators to push for passage of HJR 233.

These problems will not be fixed by themselves and you cannot depend on someone else fixing problems that negatively impact you and your family. It is time for We the People of North Carolina to stand and be heard. Over 2.2 million people across the country have signed the petition at conventionofstates.com. So have over 85,000 North Carolinians and almost 3,000 of Sen. Rabon’s constituents. Contact information for Sen. Rabon and Berger are found at ncleg.gov. Write, email and call them. Respectfully request their support for HJR 233.

Hugh McWilliams is a volunteer with Convention of States North Carolina.