"The last time the national debt exceeded 100 percent of gross domestic product was during World War II, when the Unite States assumed massive debt to fund the war effort. During the past decade, the national debt has skyrocketed to $16.5 trillion while for the fourth year in a row Congress has failed to produce an annual federal budget. The Compact for America (CFA), which proposes that state legislatures use an interstate compact to advance a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA), could reduce the national debt to acceptable levels, says Nick Dranias, director of the Center for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute. The Balanced Budget Amendment would require a majority of state legislatures to approve any increase above an initial debt limit. Advancing a balanced budget requirement through interstate compact allows states to utilize their sovereign power under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, which authorizes states to originate constitutional...