While Congress refuses to call a constitutional convention that states are constitutionally owed, everyday Americans are privately funding and organizing flights to send veterans to the memorials built in their honor — because the federal government can't be bothered with either obligation.

The contrast lays bare the core failure of the modern administrative state: the institutions that claim authority over every dimension of American life cannot perform their most basic duties, and ordinary citizens are forced to build parallel structures to do the work themselves.

In Bella Vista, Arkansas, volunteers like Greg Cameron organize through Honor Flight of the Ozarks, one of 134 hubs in 43 states, to fly veterans to Washington, D.C. Each mission carries 81 veterans, 81 guardians, and 21 support staff on an 875-mile journey. Guardians pay their own way — $600 each. The program runs entirely on donations and corporate partners. Preparation begins 20 weeks in advance. Roll call is at 3 a.m.

Cameron, whose father flew B-17s in World War II, told Arkansas Online he joined because he remembers friends who served in Vietnam and "never got a welcome home." Executive Director David Snider called it "living history, versus what you read out of the history books."

Meanwhile, Fortune reports that Congress has ignored its own constitutional mandate. Article V states that Congress "shall call" a convention when two-thirds of states file applications. Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 85 that the language is "peremptory" — nothing is "left to the discretion of that body." According to the Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation, at least 39 states had active applications as far back as 1979, with the count reaching 40 by 1983. As recently as 2017, more than the required 34 states had applications on file. Congress did nothing.

It wasn't until 2015 that Congress even assigned the House Judiciary Committee to receive, store, and count state applications — and the committee has since failed to discharge that responsibility. Fortune notes that Congress has a direct conflict of interest: an Article V convention exists precisely for when Congress refuses to act on matters like fiscal sanity, term limits, and campaign finance reform.

Opponents on both the far right — the John Birch Society — and the far left — Common Cause — warn of a "runaway" convention. Fortune counters that a majority of states currently have applications limited to fiscal responsibility only, and the majority would control the scope.

The connecting thread is unmistakable. Veterans who bled for this country wait on charity to visit their own memorials while the federal treasury is emptied on priorities that serve everyone except the Americans who earned its protection. The Constitution gave the states a mechanism to force fiscal discipline, and Congress simply refuses to honor it. The founders designed these pressure valves — community duty and state sovereignty — precisely because they understood concentrated power would always serve itself.

The question is whether either mechanism can overcome an institution that has learned it can ignore both without consequence.