Call for a Constitutional Convention to propose a Balanced Budget amendment?

[zorkpolitics]

Apparently John Kasich is leading an effort to have the states call for a Constitutional Convention to propose a Balanced Budget amendment:
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/john-kasichs-crusade-113559.html?hp=t3_r

Apparently 23 states (of the 34 needed) have passed resolutions calling for the convention.  Besides OH and MI, does anyone know what other states have called for a Balanced Budget Constitutional Convention?

[Vega]

Yet they won't call one for a convention to get money out of politics.

[bedstuy]

I understand using the balanced budget amendment as red meat for the base.  But, it's insane to seriously try to pass a balanced budget amendment.  Any sensible person can see that this is a horrible idea.

[zorkpolitics]

Previous drafts of such a Balanced Budget amendment attempt to be somewhat realistic, they would allow deficit spending in time of "National Emergencies", presumably war or severe recessions. 
If the feds ran a Clinton era surplus of about $100 billion/yr it would only take 180 yrs to pay off the national debt.

[SteveRogers]

Previous drafts of such a Balanced Budget amendment attempt to be somewhat realistic, they would allow deficit spending in time of "National Emergencies", presumably war or severe recessions. 
If the feds ran a Clinton era surplus of about $100 billion/yr it would only take 180 yrs to pay off the national debt.

Unfortunately, the balanced budget amendment draft that was last voted on in congress, the one the tea party folks were advocating for during the 2011 Debt ceiling standoff, wasn't even a real balanced budget amendment. It contained a bunch of even more nonsensical provisions such as constitutionally restricting spending to a fixed percentage of GDP and requiring supermajorities in congress for any and all tax increases.

[Slander and/or Libel]

It would be insane to try to pay off the national debt. It happened once and it was a disaster.

[bedstuy]

It would be insane to try to pay off the national debt. It happened once and it was a disaster.

Right.  Theoretically if we could, it would cause a worldwide financial crisis because US treasuries are a key piece of the financial markets.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It would be insane to try to pay off the national debt. It happened once and it was a disaster.

The Panic of 1837 was unrelated to the temporary elimination of the national debt in 1835.  Not that government policies weren't a factor, but the brief lack of a national debt wasn't one of them.  Rather it was the Specie Circular and the replacement of the Bank of the United States with the pet banks that were the major governmental factors, but neither of those were related to the elimination of the national debt.

[Slander and/or Libel]

I doubt you can say conclusively that those factors had absolutely nothing to do with paying off the debt, but I certainly accept and understand that it wasn't the biggest factor in what happened.

But bedstuy hits the nail on the head better than I did: US debt is a key piece of world financial markets. Without it, there would be a huge, huge vacuum.