Posted on 01/22/2015 12:34:13 PM PST by cotton1706
After movement already from 10 states in the early weeks of legislative sessions this year, one conservative group believes an Article 5 convention to amend the Constitution can be achieved by the end 2015.
Resolutions have been introduced in Arizona, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia and Wyoming to support fiscal restraint and limit the scope of federal power.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey gives his state-of-the-state address in the House of Representatives at the Arizona Capitol, Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey gives his state-of-the-state address in the House of Representatives at the Arizona Capitol, Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Still, this particular Article 5 movement would need 31 additional states to pass resolutions – joining Alaska, Florida and Georgia, which passed resolutions last year calling for a convention of the states to address broad issues on restraining the federal government.
The Republican wave in state legislatures in the last election could help, said Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Convention of States Project.
“It’s an ambitious goal that if you asked me last year I wouldn’t have been as certain, but that was before November 2014,” Meckler told TheBlaze. “Now, Republicans control 31 state legislatures. There has been a radical sea change at the state level.”
The Convention of the States Project is a separate effort from one to call a convention specifically to pass a balanced budget amendment. Though 24 states have passed resolutions to approve a balanced budget amendment, the resolutions – some of which date back to the 1980s – are not identical, Meckler said.
(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...
A ray of hope.
Grab the hammer!
thanks for the ping.
Bmp4L8r
3 down, 31 to go, with the potential of 13 down, 21 to go. Some of those, like New Jersey, are probably non-starters.
The hammer should be dangling, off its hook. Glass broken.
No kidding.
Absolutely irrelevant.
Congress’ Present Duty to Call a Convention:
No telling what damage the left could do if this ever happened. Either it would be a great deal of damage or the whole thing would collapse.
BEGIN
The amendatory process under Article V consists of three steps: Proposal, Disposal, and Ratification.
Proposal:
There are two ways to propose an amendment to the Constitution.
Article V gives Congress and an Amendments Convention exactly the same power to propose amendments, no more and no less.
Disposal:
Once Congress, or an Amendments Convention, proposes amendments, Congress must decide whether the states will ratify by the:
The State Ratifying Convention Method has only been used twice: once to ratify the Constitution, and once to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition.
Ratification:
Depending upon which ratification method is chosen by Congress, either the state legislatures vote up-or-down on the proposed amendment, or the voters elect a state ratifying convention to vote up-or-down. If three-quarters of the states vote to ratify, the amendment becomes part of the Constitution.
Forbidden Subjects:
Article V contains two explicitly forbidden subjects and one implicitly forbidden subject.
Explicitly forbidden:
Implicitly forbidden:
I have two reference works for those interested.
The first is from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative pro-business group. This document has been sent to every state legislator in the country.
Proposing Constitutional Amendments by a Convention of the States: A Handbook for State Lawmakers
The second is a 1973 report from the American Bar Association attempting to identify gray areas in the amendatory process to include an Amendments Convention. It represents the view of the ruling class of 40 years ago. While I dislike some of their conclusions, they have laid out the precedents that may justify those conclusions. What I respect is the comprehensive job they did in locating all the gray areas. They went so far as to identify a gray area that didn't pop up until the Equal Rights Amendment crashed and burned a decade later. Even if you find yourself in disagreement with their vision, it's worth reading to see the view of the ruling class toward the process.
Report of the ABA Special Constitutional Convention Study Committee
END
A Convention of the States only possesses the power to propose amendments. It would take the legislatures (or ratifying conventions) of 38 states to ratify an amendment into the Constitution.
Do you honestly think that 38 states would ratify a harebrained Leftist amendment?
I hope that the lawmakers in the Article V states are reading Free Republic.
Just as with voters who are “addicted” to constitutionally indefensible federal spending programs, what will bottleneck an Article V convention of the states, imo, is the states who are likewise addicted to constitutionally indefensible pork funding.
That's just a typo. You know, like subsidies for federal exchanges is just a typo.
No reason to not allow them anyway...
Besides, only legislation has to be identical between the two chambers of Congress. There is nothing said about petitions from the several states having to be identical.
-PJ
Possibly not but if not then the it will be turned into a zoo, purposefully, by the powers that be, with who knows what result. I know damn well if major conservative changes were adapted the powers that be won't just accept it gracefully. We're a lot like the final years of the Roman Republic in my opinion.
We need a convention to ONCE AND FOR ALL re-assert that the United States is a CHRISTIAN republic founded upon the bedrock of Biblical principles. We also need to clarify that Congress has the right to ban any and all practices that undermine or challenge the validity of Biblical Christianity. And, an amendment should be added that strikes down and null and void any court ruling or statute that contradicts Biblical Law.
It may be “pedantic boilerplate” but it needs saying on a regular basis in the forum since we all can’t immediately grab Mark Levin’s book. Thanks!!
Start with your state, end with your state. Congress has been bought.
I think you have a better chance in a peaceful separation than such a conservative change throughout the whole country. You don’t understand the intensity of the opposition or its power.
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