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A means to smite the federal Leviathan
washingtontimes.com ^ | 2/24/15 | Tom Coburn

Posted on 02/25/2015 6:29:02 AM PST by cotton1706

Throughout my time in Washington, it was my goal to constrain the scope and size of our federal government to that which our Founders intended. There were successes along the way, of course, but the federal behemoth continues to grow almost unabated year after year, election cycle after election cycle. The reason for this is surprisingly simple: It is human nature to attempt to collect as much power and control as possible, and in few places is that more evident than in Washington, D.C.

Our national soul is being corrupted by Washington’s unhindered and unconstitutional overreach. Our Founders anticipated the federal government might get out of control at some point, and they gave us a constitutional mechanism to rein it in. It’s called a Convention of the States, outlined in Article V of the Constitution.

Too many in Washington have, unfortunately, have forgotten they work for the American people, and that needs to change if America is going to remain a strong, free and prosperous nation. As it now stands, we are a nation mired in massive and growing debt, out-of-control regulation, high taxes and less freedom. Washington cannot and will not fix this — only the American people have the will and power to put America back together.

Although I am a proud conservative, this is not a partisan issue. Politicians and bureaucracies in Washington, D.C. will never voluntarily relinquish meaningful power — no matter who is elected.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/24/tom-coburn-calling-a-convention-of-states/#ixzz3Slcw7y9I Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: elections

1 posted on 02/25/2015 6:29:02 AM PST by cotton1706
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To: cotton1706

>>Washington cannot and will not fix this — only the American people have the will and power to put America back together.

Well over half of the American people do not want the leviathan stopped. Half voted for Obama and the rest of the Democrats. Those who work in federal law enforcement are employed by the leviathan. Retirees want their Social Security/Medicare benefits. The corporations want their tax breaks. Wall Street wants the “safety net” so they can outsource our jobs with a clean conscience. The list goes on.

Even those who need nothing from the government beast are moving closer to age 65 every year and/or are just one downsizing away from unemployment.

Everyone says, “Reduce the size of the beast...but leave MY program alone because I need it!” The programs are the masters and we are the slaves.


2 posted on 02/25/2015 6:42:11 AM PST by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: cotton1706

Fortunately, there is a napalm bomb solution to the subversive character of the Nation’s Capitol. Acquaint yourselves with the following terms, posters, links and concepts:

* History, background, consequences of the 17th Amendment
* Article V
* ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council)
* COS Project (Convention of States)
* FR Poster Publius
* FR Poster Jacquerie
(there are many other fine posters for Article V)
* Mark Levin’s Tour de Force Speech (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdZuV8JnvvA)

* And the following Constitutional Amendment Proposal:

________________________________________

To redress the balance of powers between the federal government and the States and to restore effective suffrage of State Legislatures to Congress, the following amendment is proposed:

AMENDMENT XXVIII

Section 1.
A Senator in Congress shall be subject to recall by their respective state legislature or by voter referendum in their respective state.

Section 2.
Upon a majority vote in two-thirds of state legislatures, federal statutes and federal court decisions shall be overridden.

Section 3.
Term limits for Senators in Congress shall be set by vote in their respective state legislatures but in no case shall be set less than twelve years.
________________________________________

If Section 1 above is replaced with a repeal of the 17th Amendment, that may be even better but it may be a hard sale. Recalling US Senators gets the job done for state legislatures and it also requires interaction with the voters as they retain the right to vote for their US Senator.

With the above amendment, there would be no Obamacare, no same-sex marriage nonsense and so on. Most of the social issue tyranny would go away. And importantly with respect to Jay Cost’s commentary above, the beginning of the end of the ‘Interest Group Society’ aka the Federal Leviathan, the scale of the corruption in Washington, DC can be permanently adjusted back down to historical manageable proportions.

Here’s your challenge for the day:

FIND OUT WHO YOUR STATE SENATOR AND STATE REPRESENTATIVE IS.

Challenge for tomorrow:

CONTACT YOUR STATE SENATOR AND STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK THEM IF THEY KNOW ABOUT THE COS PROJECT.


3 posted on 02/25/2015 6:45:30 AM PST by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: cotton1706
Throughout my time in Washington, it was my goal to constrain the scope and size of our federal government to that which our Founders intended.

FAIL!

4 posted on 02/25/2015 6:50:45 AM PST by Arm_Bears (Rope. Tree. Politician. Some assembly required.)
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To: cotton1706

Federal dollars to the States undermine the very concept of the Founders’ foresight...coincidence?

Another FReeper outlines it better

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3260861/posts?page=7#7


5 posted on 02/25/2015 6:54:20 AM PST by logi_cal869 (-cynicus-)
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To: cotton1706
It would have been helpful for you to mention his solution.

For others reading this posting, Tom Coburn's proposed solution is an Article V convention.

I am dubious about this idea, but am slowly coming around to it. My biggest concern is the fact that other than the bill of rights, most amendments have been disasters, and I have little hope that a modern convention will not screw it up in the manner of past amendments.

But of course, things are getting so bad, that the prospects of a convention doing something worse than what is already happening is beginning to seem increasingly unlikely.

6 posted on 02/25/2015 7:08:47 AM PST by DiogenesLamp
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To: Bryanw92
Well over half of the American people do not want the leviathan stopped.

And therein lies the problem. It would appear unsolvable short of collapse. Nobody wants the gravy train to stop because it's *THEIR* gravy train, and the alternative of hard work or sacrifice is very unappealing to generations that have grown up in relative ease as compared to their ancestors in the past.

7 posted on 02/25/2015 7:11:06 AM PST by DiogenesLamp
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To: Hostage
Term limits for Senators in Congress shall be set by vote in their respective state legislatures but in no case shall be set less than twelve years.

I don't like this one. Many states don't want term limits, and this gives them the ability to not enact term limits.

The problem with eternal Senators and Representatives is that Liberal states LIKE the Seniority they get this way.

We need to cycle new blood through the system on a regular basis. It makes it harder for the Cronies and the Large financial interests people to keep them on a leash.

I'm actually not seeing a down side to enacting a single term for a Senator, and three terms for a Rep. Six years ought to be enough for anyone. We don't want them making a career out of governance, we want them to come back to the private sector and live under the rules they imposed while they were in power.

8 posted on 02/25/2015 7:15:30 AM PST by DiogenesLamp
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To: DiogenesLamp

“We don’t want them making a career out of governance, we want them to come back to the private sector and live under the rules they imposed while they were in power.”

Agree 100%

After a relatively short time in Fed. Gov. they become so divorced from the average person they can never return. The elitist mentality has taken root and they never can associate with peasants again.

Face it these folks for the most part don’t eat the low quality of food we eat, they don’t shop for essentials at Wal-Mart, they don’t send their children to substandard schools, they don’t face decisions about which bills to pay first, they don’t...........................

They simply don’t live like you and I, maybe at one time they did but it becomes beneath them.


9 posted on 02/25/2015 7:30:45 AM PST by Romans Nine
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To: Romans Nine
The elitist mentality has taken root and they never can associate with peasants again.

And that is much of the problem. Also note how people go into office not rich, but come out of office very wealthy.

The Whole system needs to be shaken up.

10 posted on 02/25/2015 7:35:53 AM PST by DiogenesLamp
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To: DiogenesLamp

> “We need to cycle new blood through the system on a regular basis. It makes it harder for the Cronies and the Large financial interests people to keep them on a leash.”

Here’s the reality of the PACs and the Oligarchs behind them:

“Vote for A or vote for B. Both are our guys.”

Whether it’s a Freshman Senator or a Cochran Senator, they are pre-selected, bought and paid for. Party label does not matter except as to ‘branding’ for the voter/consumer.

Section 3 says “shall”. Remember 34 states are needed to propose such as an amendment and 38 states are needed to ratify. Section 3 lowers the barrier to approval. Influential state legislators can argue for your point. But there has to be agreement at some level or else it dies, and would have been a pointless exercise.


11 posted on 02/25/2015 8:17:23 AM PST by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: DiogenesLamp

>>And therein lies the problem. It would appear unsolvable short of collapse. Nobody wants the gravy train to stop because it’s *THEIR* gravy train, and the alternative of hard work or sacrifice is very unappealing to generations that have grown up in relative ease as compared to their ancestors in the past.

I agree. Nothing will stop the Progressive takeover and the subsequent decline into totalitarianism as the various special interests fight over the scraps of the decimated economy.

If you ask a Millennial what poverty looks like, he will describe a life that is actually better than the average middle class American family in 1976. But to him, a life like that would be unbearable.

They will bring America to totalitarianism (and its not their fault because their parents raised them to be spoiled little Princes and Princesses). Their children will suffer under that totalitarianism and their grandchildren will be the ones to claw their way out of it because they won’t have anything to lose by revolution and they will be people hardened by poverty.


12 posted on 02/25/2015 8:55:20 AM PST by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: Bryanw92
They will bring America to totalitarianism (and its not their fault because their parents raised them to be spoiled little Princes and Princesses). Their children will suffer under that totalitarianism and their grandchildren will be the ones to claw their way out of it because they won’t have anything to lose by revolution and they will be people hardened by poverty.

I think Tytler had this figured out over two hundred years ago.


13 posted on 02/25/2015 9:09:52 AM PST by DiogenesLamp
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To: DiogenesLamp

>>I think Tytler had this figured out over two hundred years ago.

I just figured it out it as the result of a spiritual gift.


14 posted on 02/25/2015 10:23:26 AM PST by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: cotton1706

GOP Fail.
The people have failed to keep a check on tyranny, they don’t even know what it means.


15 posted on 02/26/2015 7:27:18 AM PST by right way right
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