Posted on 05/06/2017 1:32:13 PM PDT by ForYourChildren
On his nationally syndicated radio talk show Thursday, host Mark Levin suggested that the biggest news yesterday was not about Obamacare but was instead the fact that Texas joined the Convention of the States movement, and “this is going to be an earthquake.”
“You wanna hear the biggest news today, the very biggest news today?” asked Levin. “The Texas House just passed Article V Convention of States resolution. The Senate already passed it. So, Texas is state number 11, state number 11 out of 34 needed. ...
“I am telling you, this is going to be an earthquake as we get closer and closer to this,” Levin stated later in the program.
{..snip..}
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
But there is still the larger problem of demonstrating any link between direct election and later SCOTUS decisions. That's a post hoc ergo propter hoc argument, "after this because of this", and that's not a valid argument- it may be true but it can just as easily be coincidence.
The 17th gained traction largely because voters in the 1890s had come to believe that their state reps were something on the order of crooks. Events like Crédit Mobilier, Free Silver, the Panic of 1893 led to the populist movement and direct election is one its progeny in the 19-teens.
I have no idea whether direct election is any improvement. But the idea that state reps chose Senators based on merit rather than personal advantage, greasing of the palm, and a lot of other tawdry reasons ignores history and human nature.
COS BTTT
You know what Benjamin Franklin said about the Constitutional Convention: “For God’s sake, be careful who are those men” that attended.
Do you really, really think that, having failed to control “those men” that we send to Congress, we will control “those men” at a convention? State governments? Really? The AZ state government that wouldn’t consider basic free market health care alternatives? The TN state government that enacted TennCare? I might trust TX, but I absolutely don’t trust the GOP legislatures of NV, CO, even ID. Certainly not OH-—I lived there for 30 years and they are TOTALLY “in the swamp.”
Sorry, but I see no way that the selection of these delegates would give us anyone other than more Paul Ryans.
LOL, Grania, I’ve been right there with you every step of the way so in numbers of gray hairs I assure you you have nothing on me.
That said. I have “some” trust in a precious few legislators and a substantial amount in Pence and Trump but not total. And, I’m trying to be patient with them. Unlike some Freepers.
One “trust” I do have is that being “overly cynical” is a death wish. You say “enforce the constitution”. That’s EXACTLY what an Article V Constitutional Convention IS !!!
ARTICLE V is not in the bible, or in traffic laws, or a paragraph in Gone with the Wind............it’s an IMPORTANT part of the Constitution that we are trying to use, as our forefathers intended, to try and straighten out this mess we are in.
The illustration you cite, namely electoral college, cannot be brought up because it’s exact wording was not ever submitted to all the legislatures. So, it cannot be. With respect, your concerns though obviously sincere are not valid.
It is not a Constitutional Convention. Please investigate this for yourself before commenting. This is a legal process provided in our Constitution to propose a single Amendment to our Constitution. It does not throw out the baby or the bathwater. So far in our history only the Congress has proposed Constitutional Amendments. Let's take a chance on the Article V convention because whatever happens, 38 States would have to ratify it to become law.
The problem is that both parties are corrupt and controlled by globalist. When you only have 2 corrupt people as a choice to vote for, how can you change the govt ? If more people join the parties and run for office then we can change things.
It’s my understanding that a Convention of States allows the states to propose and vote on Amendments to the Constitution just like Congress. It is not a Constitutional Convention that would legally allow them to rewrite the Constitution.
If we keep doing what we're doing, we'll keep going where we're going. I'm with Jim Robinson on this.
“They can only convene to discuss the topics for which the convention is called.”
Just like that little navigation topic between Maryland and Virginia back in 1785...
Seems that some Virginians wanted to build a canal along the Potomac but the Potomac belonged to Maryland. So one of the investors, George Washington, hosted a meeting at his house and a deal was ironed out between the two states.
They actually forged agreements going well beyond Gov Patrick Henry’s instructions. And the deal was struck outside of the then current ‘constitution’, the Articles of Confederation. But the deal was agreeable to both states and the Mount Vernon Compact became law.
Well Maryland and Virginia figured that Mount Vernon was such a success they ought to invite the other states to another trade conference, the Annapolis Convention. Not all of the states showed up but the ones that did yakked about commerce and then decided a bigger conference with everybody attending was needed. So they met in Philadelphia in 1787 and ended up scrapping the Articles and replacing it with the Constitution.
Fortunately that worked out pretty well. But remember this all began with some Virginia investors wanting to build a canal and it ended up with a rewrite of the whole gov’t.
Not sure if that equals sticking to the topics they began with. Pretty sure that a country capable of electing Barack Obama twice isn’t going to be as wise nor as lucky as the 1787 crowd.
If adding amendments that required term limits for Congress and election of Federal judges, behavior would definitely change.
***
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 fourths 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:
Reference works:
Frequently Asked Questions About a Convention of the States
Proposing Constitutional Amendments by a Convention of the States: A Handbook for State Lawmakers
State Initiation of Constitutional Amendments: A Guide for Lawyers and Legislative Drafters
Levin, if you were smarter, you’d support Trump. In fact, if you really wanted to see your COS project go somewhere, Trump is the channel.
I know, I know. You’re the smartest guy in the room. It’s either “my way or the highway”, right Levin?
But be aware that you’re having Parkinson lapses when you read the Constitution.
First, you need to reread the paragraph about the “natural born citizen” requirement for President. As you know, this must be interpreted as the Founders would. I wouldn’t want to hear any wishy-washy modernist interpretations. That’s strictly for DOPES.
Oh, and why isn’t the House repealing Obamacare a big deal? At one time you wanted the Supreme Court to strike Ocare down in the worst way.
Why are you not excited about that now, Levin? Is it because it was on Donald Trump’s watch that the vote happened?
BTW, I think Justice Roberts’ calling Obamacare a tax is a perfectly legitimate interpretation.
So forgive me if I distrust your motives and your sincerity to the cause. The last election taught us a lot about where your loyalties lie.
You are a slave of the idea you talked about yesterday or a subject you wrote a book on.
Emerson’s hobgoblin of consistent little minds is stuck in your throat.
Very good, BJ1. No wiser words were ever spoken about the tyranny of the majority...
IMO, there is one last option our Founders left in the Constitution for this situation and President Trump may be the one man who can help make it happen.
The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic explains how Article V of the Constitution holds the answer to our runaway government. It outlines the process of an Article V Convention of States (CoS) which would present amendments to the Constitution that could reign in the federal leviathan. The book is written by Mark Levin.
Article V (CoS) is yet another testament to the pure genius of our Founders as it bypasses the federal government in the amendment process.
Congress can not stop the process.
President Trump has mentioned that he wants term limits on congress. “An Amendment to Establish Term Limits for Members of Congress” is the title of ch 2 of the book and there are so many more recommendations that I think President Trump would rally to.
Even though the executive has no formal part in an Article V convention, the timing of this particular president may truly be providential in this matter. Trump could be an enormous driving force behind the needed awareness campaign to bring this to greater national attention.
There is already significant momentum as the number of states required is getting closer.
If Trump were to push this we may reach the number in the 2018 midterms.
To the naysayers please consider that it was the Framers themselves who prescribed this process and included it in our Constitution for the very situation we are now in.
In order to MAGA we must MGCA!
President Trump, Make Government Constitutional Again!
Sounds very good to me...
IF that’s the case, then Trump needs to replace Janet as soon as he can. Is there a solution to the Fed Reserve problem?
If you want John McCain, John Kasich, and Mitch McConnell running the convention, go ahead. It’s madness to think that any outsiders would magically appear and wrest control when they CAN’T EVEN DO IT IN THEIR OWN STATES NOW.
May not be an earthquake to you or I, thinking the U.S. Congress are prolly crappin their pants.
COS is totally out of the federal gubbamints control. You gotta know they're keeping their eye on this lil movement. lol
They're creatures of the DC swamp, which the 17th was instrumental in producing.
He even defended the blond bimbo, whats her name, against the predatory male Trump, saying that gentlemen don't say such things to ladies. Never mind that the bimbo talked about her private parts and then bragged about her husband's private parts on radio, proving she is not a lady.
Levin sometimes has a screw loose.
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