You're right. That would be "interesting". Perhaps even "May you live in interesting times".[1] It's definitely a wildcard. The last time it was "threatened"

You're right. That would be "interesting". Perhaps even "May you live in interesting times".[1] It's definitely a wildcard. The last time it was "threatened" is over 100 years ago. According to Wiki, Congress then passed [2] the 17th amendment: for fear that such a convention—if permitted to assemble—might stray to include issues above and beyond just the direct election of U.S. Senators It's sad that each and every state has to maintain at least the pretense of a balanced budget, and yet the Federal government is utterly incapable of doing so. I wonder how different things might be if the 17th amendment never was ratified, if each state's Senators were still directly appointed by each state legislature? Would the states be able to more effectively check the growth of Federal power? [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_tim... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Five_of_the_United_States_Constitution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Five_of_the_United_Stat...