Commentary: Risking worse shutdowns

The 35-day partial government shutdown that cost the U.S. economy $11 billion can teach us something about our political process' limits in problem-solving. These lessons are particularly important because a new effort to add a balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution could make damaging government shutdowns more frequent and harder to solve.

Around the country, well-funded groups are making a concerted push to get state resolutions passed that call for