James Lefter's letter ( "Tea party wants to destroy USA to 'save' it" July 22) quotes Section 5 of Amendment XIV of the Constitution: "The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." This is in regard to the U.S. government's obligation to pay its bills and the necessity of raising the nation's debt ceiling.

But Mr. Lefter's argument, that the key word of Section 5 is "enforce," falls flat. The liberal brown shirts want all U.S. citizens to be brought to heel by the federal government. The key words in Section 5 are actually "by appropriate legislation."

By quoting the Constitution, Mr. Lefter has been hoisted by his own petard. And when is enough, "enough"? $14 trillion? $17 trillion? $20 trillion? What's the number, Baltimore Sun?

Ralph Schmidt, Parkville