The Bible tells us in the very first chapter of Genesis that God‘s plan is that a man would leave his parents, join with his wife and the two shall become one.

Without fully sharing all my feelings here, because Liz is a much more private person than me, please know she had a lot to do with what I am sharing.

God‘s plan for me, as outlined in Genesis, has been one of the greatest blessings in my life.

Liz made a difference in 2019 and she did again in the Spring of 2024.

That Spring, the International Monetary Fund (the “IMF”) was quoted in a news article of having reached a point of frustration so great that they announced publicly that the U.S. debt had become a very real threat to the world’s global economy.

By the spring of 2024, our effort had long passed the excitement we had gained as a result of our initial campaign success with the Oklahoma delegation during the course of what was the 116th Congress in 2019.

Moving beyond Oklahoma had proven to be very difficult, to say the least. As a result of this difficulty, we had decided to work only in the Senate and only on the one-third of the Senators who were facing election in the next federal election cycle.

I felt strongly that God had illuminated that this was the path forward for our effort at that point.

But the reality was, we were striving valiantly, but gaining very little ground.

I was traveling around the nation – think St. Louis, Mo., Bozeman, Mont., Lincoln, Neb., Fargo, N.D. – and these were only some of the destinations the effort had led me to visit.

We were trying to harvest the low-hanging fruit by approaching self-described Christian, fiscally conservative Republicans, who one would naturally think would readily embrace No Budget No Pay. But one might be very surprised and indeed discouraged to learn how many Senators who would like us to think of them as sacrifi-cial patriots, who then run when confronted with the opportunity to prove themselves to be precisely that.

As a result, we were getting nowhere.

The Bible tells us repeatedly, “Wait for the Lord.”

I would say I knew in my heart we were getting nowhere and needed a new plan. This was a time when I was working and waiting for the Lord to illuminate the next step.

Rather than count the instances where I had all but given up when suddenly God opened a way forward, I would say that has essentially been the case every single time.

The news story that cited the IMF also included a quote from David M. Walker, Former Comptroller General of the United States.

Liz read my weekly update where I repeated the quote from David Walker. She then suggested that I try to reach out to David. I had no inkling that her suggestion would lead to a major turning point. In fact, I had very little hope I would even be able to reach this man named David Walker, but Liz suggested it. I tried, and by God’s grace, it happened. Wow, what a difference it has made.

To my great surprise a simple Google search quickly led to an email address for David M. Walker.

Then a simple, direct email with the subject line “28th amendment” promptly led to a phone call with Mr. Walker.

Wow, my head was spinning!

On the phone call, Mr. Walker suggested that if our group was trying to bring about a 28th Amendment to address our national debt, we should stop “going it” alone and join their effort.

While I was blown away at how quickly I had reached this nationally prominent man and how quickly he had embraced the idea of us joining him, I also had some concerns.

I explained to David that if we were to change our course and join forces with him, it would be a major change in direction in our effort.

Our effort had now been in progress for eight years. I told David before I made such a change, it would be necessary to meet in person.

David invited me to meet him at his home in Alexandria, Va. I accepted.

Our destiny was changed.

Let me share a bit about David from his impressive background and work on this issue. David was born in 1951 in Birmingham, Ala.

He graduated with a degree in accounting from Jacksonville University.

He attained post graduate certificates from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the National War College’s Capstone program.

He is a certified public accountant.

He was a direct admission partner with Arthur Andersen and rose to become a global managing director.

He is a presidential appointee of Reagan, Bush (41) and Clinton with unanimous Senate confirmation each time.

In addition to running three federal agencies, he has served as one of two public trustees for Social Security and Medicare, as chair of the United Nations Independent Audit Advisory Committee and as a member of the Defense Business Board.

On Nov. 9, 1998, he took the oath of office as Comptroller General of the United States and head of the now named U.S. Government Accountability Office.

He was appointed by President Bill Clinton and served almost 10 years in the capacity. He subsequently ran two non-profits and served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the United States Naval Academy.

He was recruited personally by Peter G. Peterson in 2008 to be the first CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. You may have never heard of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, but it is an enormous foundation created specifically to address our mounting debt challenges.

The organization gives out millions of dollars annually and still manages to maintain cash reserves of more than $1 billion currently.

Sadly, Dave would tell you the organization has not been as effective since its founder passed away.

Dave and I agree that this and other debt related organizations will never truly move the needle on addressing fiscal sanity and sustainability unless they become more assertive.

Dave was a national co-founder of the No Labels Organization. It has about 800,000 members today.

Dave appears along with Pete Peterson, Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker, Robert Rubin and others in the acclaimed documentary film, I.O.U.S.A.

In 2012, Dave received funding from Ross Perot to conduct a nationwide bus tour dubbed the “$10 Million a Minute” tour to bring the national attention to our debt and focus on potential solutions.

The tour achieved 77% to 97% support from representative groups of voters on a range of fiscal and political reforms that would achieve federal fiscal sustainability and revitalize our democracy.

Like Tom Coburn, David has been the central feature in a “60 Minutes” segment on our national debt.

He has authored four books, including two that address our nation’s fiscal challenges, one of which was a national best seller.

He self-published his most recent book “America in 2040: Still at Superpower.”

It was initially published in 2020 with an updated version in 2024. The book does a wonderful job of explaining in detail a fact we should all be aware of, which is that a nation cannot remain a global superpower and be bankrupt at the same time.

The book compares present-day America to the Roman Empire in its decline.

It also includes the illustrative solutions that achieved broad support as part of the $10 Million a Minute Tour in 2012.

Most recently, Dave co-founded and chairs an organization called the Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation, which seeks to implement a very interesting plan to bring about a Constitutional Convention to propose a federal fiscal responsibility amendment.

More about this in a later chapter.

As I have now come to know Dave Walker as a man, what really matters to me is that he is quite similar to my hero, Tom Coburn.

Like Tom, Dave assured me that the only way to truly address our debt is to amend the Constitution.

Like Tom, Dave believes our debt is the result of both Republicans and Democrats acting irresponsibly over a long period of time.

Like Tom, Dave has fought long and hard showing great resolve and tenacity.

Like Tom, Dave has had close relationships with U. S. presidents and very high-level government officials.

Like Tom, Dave is a person of integrity and a truth teller.

Our effort’s course and my life have been forever changed because Liz took the time to read an update and make a suggestion.

And, because in my mind, God willed it to be fruitful.

The Bible best explained how this happened it when it said, “The two shall become one.”

For our common good, R. Brian Walter Matthew 20v26-28