Posted on 04/14/2012 9:30:37 AM PDT by broken_arrow1
Thirty four (34) is the number of Legislatures from the several States necessary to call a States Convention or a Constitutional Convention. This also known as an Article Five(5) Convention, or a Convention to Amend the U.S. Constitution. With fifty (50) States in the U.S. Federal Compact today, thirty four (34) is the Constitutional number of legislatures from the several States needed to cross the threshold for such a convention.
Let's look at Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution :
"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. "
Thirty eight (38) is the number of legislatures from the several States that is necessary to ratify and thus amend the U.S. Constitution after such a convention. This amendment could be "to dissolve". By "dissolve" I mean the whole compact between the several States. Yes, the entire Federal Government and every thing it has or was created under it's jurisdiction. This would include but is not limited too, the Federal Debt, the Federal Reserve Bank, the FDIC, the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, etc. etc... Think of it as a Constitutional self destruct mechanism.
This would leave the fifty (50) several States and the numerous Federal Territories, sovereign and under their own rightful and direct jurisdiction. Of course each State or Territory would then be free to individually or in groups engage in new compacts and trade arrangements. That is up to them to decide at a further date.
I know this information is very powerful and the far reaching ramification of such a decision may be a little hard for the reader to grasp or understand at first glance. I openly admit that I am not capable of understanding all the possibilities or consequences of such a decision. That being said, please allow me to entertain some ideas that immediately come to mind.
The Federal Reserve and Federal Reserve Notes are gone. The National Debt under the Federal Governments' promise to pay, evaporates Of course the IRS and all Federal Taxes. Social Security , Medicare and all that has been promised, owed or collected. Any claim to Federal Park Lands, highways, military bases, equipment, buildings, assets of any kind inside the several States. Any and all Federal agreements or treaties such as NATO, the UN, WTO, NAFTA,CAFTA, GAT and so on. I invite the readers to speculate and comment on any of the challenges or possibilities that could result if such a course was taken.
I will leave you with this final thought, "That which has been created can NOT be greater than the creator." It is time for the people through their several State Governments assert their power over the Federal Government over which they created. 100% Legally with pen and paper!
A Constitutional Convention is a retarded idea.
A Constiutional Amendment to ban the government from spending money it doesn’t have, transferring funds between state and federal coffers or giving money to non-government organizations would be good.
Following original intent, it isn't us to SCOTUS to make that decision.
However true, therefore, it may be, that the judicial department is, in all questions submitted to it by the forms of the Constitution, to decide in the last resort, this resort must necessarily be deemed the last in relation to the authorities of the other departments of the government; not in relation to the rights of the parties to the constitutional compact, from which the judicial, as well as the other departments, hold their delegated trusts. On any other hypothesis, the delegation of judicial power would annul the authority delegating it; and the concurrence of this department with the others in usurped powers, might subvert forever, and beyond the possible reach of any rightful remedy, the very Constitution which all were instituted to preserve.
James Madison, Report on the Virginia Resolutions
According to the man who wrote it, anyway.
“I openly admit that I am not capable of understanding all the possibilities or consequences of such a decision.”
The last thing in the world you want right now is a Con Con. All it would take is a bunch of Commie libtard delegates getting sent from enough states and the next thing you know you would have a new Constitution and an ammended Bill of Rights minus the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 10th Ammendments. Noooo! Trust me you don’t want a Con Con right now.
The 10 Ammendment gives the states enough rights to take down and/or control the Federal govt. They just have not been exercising those rights for the past 100 years. Recently its started to change.
the federal reserve bank is not under, nor part of, the federal government
Yes it is. It was created by Act of Congress, it's board is appointed by the President with confirmation by the Senate. It is part of the US Government.
It's a "Quango" (Quasi governmental organization). It functions as a "bank" "owned" by other banks, but that is a legal fiction. It could be dissolved by Congress tomorrow and it's "owners" could not stop it.
It's part of the government.
It's just not formally part of the executive branch.
Me too.
Secession is not illegal. Where did you get that idea?
It would take about five minutes for the communists (aka, progressives, socialists, moderates, civil rights leaders, human rights leaders, feminists, racial diversity leaders, union troops, university professors, ABA, etc.) to control and dominate the constitutional convention and toss us to Stalin.
No constitutional convention. Make them obey the constitution we already have.
You are correct when you read it literally, it is not the decision of SCOTUS. Perhaps, they would read it that way or they could act as an activist court. SCOTUS has ruled enough against states already to give me confidence that they would again.
For the record, I find the 10th amendment to be one of the most important. As long as we continue to overlook it, it will be difficult if not impossible to rein in the Federal government. The shift following the Civil War was a fundamental change in our nation and the courts have played a role.
The Federal government, including the courts, is practically divorced from the founders intent and they have repeatedly demonstrated that they will run over any state no matter what it’s citizens want. There is no reason to think a radical Obama court would not play right along with the progressive agenda.... constitution be damned.
I don't! In today's climate, any attempt at a Constitutional Convention will lead to a civil war.
ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?? You could forget the Second Amendment, the 9th Amendment and the 10th Amendment, and that is just in the Bill of Rights.
The resulting constitution would more resemble Russia’s constitution rather than ours.
However, the day is coming (sooner rather than later) when the Federal Government will be unable to fulfill its obligations to the States simply because it won't be able to do any more deficit financing. The contract will be broken, not by the States, but by the Feds.
All these big spending Statists, who want to keep controlling more and more by spending more and more (think Obamacare) are making a huge mistake. Once the power of the purse is gone, the federal government will have no choice but to loosen its tight grip on the States.
The 9th and 10th are pretty much already gone. The 2nd is attacked daily.
Some sacrifices will need to be made but using trade is exactly the sort of confrontation I’m proposing in post 15.
Today we have an advantage that didn’t exist in the civil war era. We have instant communications and any federal pressure applied to the states involved in a “trade revolt” would spark immediate anger in virtually all the other states. Meanwhile the revolt states would be offering similar deals to states that wanted to join.
The states may well be the key, BUT they are firmly attached to the FedGov money spiggots.
The states may well be the key, BUT they are firmly attached to the FedGov money spiggots.
We could use a Constitutional Convention to amend article V of the Constitution.
Article V describes how the Constitution is to be amended. The following is what needs to be amended from article V.
1. require a single issue convention only
2. the congress will have no part whatsoever in any constitutional convention
3. applications for a convention should be limited to one amendment
Then it will be safe to call a constitutional convention to amend the constitution.
Please read, excellent article on how to do this:
http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Vol30_No3_Rogersonline.pdf
I still go with session and a new Confederacy—for that you just need 11 states or so.
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