[Lowell1775]

Not to be a negative nellie, but.....if the DC Imperium on the Potomac can not be compelled to obey existing clauses, articles and amendments....how will new restrictions fare any better?

[kingattax]

very good question.

[Jacquerie]

....how will new restrictions fare any better?

With structural amendments that cannot be ignored. Repeal of the 17th amendment would restore essential, freedom saving separation of powers between the states and the government they created.

A balanced budget statute is all well and good, but out of control spending is a symptom and not the cause of our distress.

[nathanbedford]

how will new restrictions fare any better?

The old Constitution retarded the progressives for a century until they have degraded the document to the point where it has virtually no original meaning left to us today. We watch the Constitution, or what's left of it, being amended willy-nilly by a president with a telephone and a pen, a Congress with changing rules, or by four progressives and an unreliable, rootless, Justice and by an army of faceless, nameless, unelected bureaucrats.

Instead, why don't we at least try Article V and hold the bastards back for another century?

The realities of the the conservative count of the state legislatures are such that the downside risk is minimal and the upside potential is attractive.

[TurboZamboni]

Our rulers are not even considering the Constitutional issues involved. Not once have I heard or read that 0bama , Reid, Pelosi or anyone in a position of real power has even brought up the Constitution as a serious matter for discussion in regards to the current expansion of government.

The only time our rulers invoke the Constitution is when they think they can use it for political advantage. But this tactic is waning rapidly as our rulers have come to understand that the vast majority of the electorate either don’t understand what they are talking about or don’t care.

The Constitution is now whatever our rulers say it is. It has no intrinsic meaning. Our rulers find rights where there are none and abrogate rights that are clearly stated in the document. We are now a nation ruled by caprice and political fad. This is a recipe for chaos and, eventually, tyranny and rebellion.

[OneWingedShark]

Not to be a negative nellie, but.....if the DC Imperium on the Potomac can not be compelled to obey existing clauses, articles and amendments....how will new restrictions fare any better?

If new restrictions are tied to their continuance in office or position of authority it becomes a very effective means of control — as an example I present my own thoughts on a fiscal responsibility amendment:

Fiscal Responsibility Amendment

Section I
The power of Congress to regulate the value of the dollar is hereby repealed.

Section II
The value of the Dollar shall be one fifteen-hundredth avoirdupois ounce of gold of which impurities do not exceed one part per thousand.

Section III
To guard against Congress using its authority over weights and measures to bypass Section I, the ounce in Section II is approximately 28.3495 grams (SI).

Section IV
The Secretary of the Treasury shall annually report the gold physically in its possession; this report shall be publicly available.

Section V
The power of the Congress to assume debt is hereby restricted: the congress shall assume no debt that shall cause the total obligations of the United States to exceed one hundred ten percent of the amount last reported by the Secretary of the Treasury.

Section VI
Any government agent, officer, judge, justice, employee, representative, or congressman causing gold to be confiscated from a private citizen shall be tried for theft and upon conviction shall:
a. be removed from office (and fired, if an employee),
b. forfeit all pension and retirement benefits,
c. pay all legal costs, and
d. restore to the bereaved twice the amount in controversy.

Section VII
The federal government shall assume no obligation lacking funding, neither shall it lay such obligation on any of the several States, any subdivision thereof, or any place under the jurisdiction of the United States. All unfunded liabilities heretofore assumed by the United States are void.

Section VIII
The federal government shall make all payments to its employees or the several states in physical gold. Misappropriation, malfeasance and/or misfeasance of funds shall be considered confiscation.

Section 6 is where the magic happens — note that it includes the elites: USSC justices, congressmen, etc.

[Strawberry AZ]

Good question, and it deserves a straight answer: Some of these proposals, if passed, would have real teeth in the form of a Constitutional Amendment... like requiring compliance under penalty of impeachment, in plain and simple English. And frankly, that's what it's come to. While Congress adheres to the Constitution only as it is interpreted by the SCOTUS, the Executive just amends the Constitution at will with the stroke of a pen. The ideas of the Founders were brilliant and their language was beautiful, but not airtight enough for today's liberal lawyers, where everything hinges on what the meaning of "is" is... we need to simplify and clarify. Not only do the states derive the authority to act from Article V, they also bear the responsibility to do so.