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To: Ditto
those pesky constitutional clauses can just be ignored.

Please. The States have the power of the Constitutional Convention. Provided you get 3/4 to agree, the States can take whatever action they darn well please.

Under what body, other than the US Congress, would the other states use to expel another state?

So here is how it would work. Let's say that we're all tired of California's nonsense. So two-thirds of the states call for a convention to amend the Constitution to expel CA. An amendment is drafted that says "sorry, California," it's put to the vote of the states, and provided 3/4 agree, California is out. End of story, and Congress gets no say.

614 posted on 03/23/2009 1:01:53 PM PDT by Publius Valerius
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To: Publius Valerius
Please. The States have the power of the Constitutional Convention. Provided you get 3/4 to agree, the States can take whatever action they darn well please.

Plausible, (it would require your convention the Re-write Art IV -- and who knows what else they may re-write at the same time.) But under the current constitution, it only takes a simple majority in congress to agree to the admission of a state (or a change in state borders as long as that state(s) agree, ergo it would only take a simple majority to expel a state as long as that state agrees to be expelled.

Getting 3/4 of the states to agree on anything is very difficult.

Getting back to the original discussion, from my studies, if the Cotton States in the 1850s had petitioned congress for a vote to expel them, (as long as debts were assumed and common property properly divided) I think they would have had a good chance of success.

664 posted on 03/23/2009 3:31:38 PM PDT by Ditto
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