Author Sponsors Article V Constitutional Conference - Bypassing Washington

self ^ | March 30, 2013 | Bob Ireland

[Bob Ireland]

Loren J. Ems, author of "Sword of Liberty" has organized an Article V Constitutional conference at the University of Central Florida. The event, to be held the weekend of April 26-27, has enlisted a number of 'experts' to participate.

Such an 'Article V' convention can be held by various states, bypassing Washington altogether. This current effort would be a beginning.

Citizens are encouraged to participate, and can enroll at the conference web site. Any FReeper including those from Florida are welcome to participate in the weekend meetings.

Attendance is FREE

[Bob Ireland]

This vehicle allows we citizens to bypass our do-nothing - or the wrong thing - legislators and directly propose such amendments as a balanced budget, term limits, etc.

[Bob Ireland]

ping

[Bob Ireland]

ping

[Durus]

Or such things as repealing the bill of rights.

[Jim Robinson]

Go for it! Restore the tenth amendment! Restore the limits on the federal government! Rein in the feds!!

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that if the federal government were to become self-destructive, it would be the right of the American people to alter it. In Article V of the Constitution our founders preserved that right by empowering the states, as those that originally established the federal government, to bypass and reform it by convening an Article V Convention, which permits the states to amend the Constitution.

Participants in the UCF Article V Convention Conference will decide whether to recommend this course of action to the state legislature after discussing the financial policies of our government. If the Article V Convention is recommended, a constitutional amendment will be proposed which would:

Implement major economic reforms, and optionally, empower the state governors and legislatures with the right to veto and enact federal legislation.

[Jim Robinson]

Go for broke!!

[Pan_Yan]

I don’t want the population who elected Obama to vote on a new constitution.

[Lloyd227]

Sorry, while I certainly understand and empathize with the motivation, I cannot support recommending to the legislatures a Constitutional Convention that will clearly be used by our enemies to rewrite the quite sufficient document we now have.

A much more effective approach will be to push our state representatives to enforce the one we have, especially the 10th Amendment.

If we cannot use what we have, which is clearly quite powerful, what makes anyone think our State legislatures will not strip the document and neuter such provisions leaving us with something more like the EU Constitution?

[Jim Robinson]

We either allow them to continue boiling us to death or we jump out of the pot and fight like hell for liberty!!

[M Kehoe]

Good afternoon. I hope you both are doing well.

This convention could open up a big can of worms. Or worst, put us on a path to CWII.

Then again, it might be time to hit the reset button...

5.56mm

[Jim Robinson]

The founders would’ve been shooting by now.

[SatinDoll]

What often seems like a sure-fire idea, later backfires. This is a good example.

Duras is correct: there is a greater chance of mischief occurring contra the liberties espoused in our U.S.Constitution than any possibility of improving that governing document.

Adding more amendments to it will not improve government.

What is required is enforcement of the rule of law.

That can only be achieved by removing the present occupants of the White House. Adding amendments to the Constitution will achieve nothing!

[SatinDoll]

Exactly!

[Mr. K]

Rus- we need to look into this

[Bob Ireland]

It is not a Constitutional Convention... read the site.

[Bob Ireland]

We need to wrest control of our country from the carpetbaggers... if not by popular action then by:??? Secession? Revolution?

[Bob Ireland]

***This convention could open up a big can of worms***

Anything is possible, I suppose... we already have a can of worms: Washington! :-) Hope youse is well!

[Publius]

I managed to capture a copy of the 1973 ABA Report on an Amendments Convention, which is the correct term, not "constitutional convention". (Credit goes to Judge Andrew Napolitano for setting me straight on that.) The ABA Report identifies what we know about an Amendments Convention, and it identifies gray areas that Congress needs to regulate to avoid a runaway situation. One of these days, I'll format the 27 pages for HTML and post it at FR.

The American Legislative Exchange Council has produced a fine document by Rob Natelson as a handbook for state legislators interested in petitioning Congress for an Amendments Convention. I have that as a beautiful color Adobe document that is too good to break down for HTML. The Council does in fact have a link to that document.

Natelson's work is outstanding, and he has 90% of it right. But he did not appear to read the 1973 ABA Report, which is he has 10% of it wrong.

There are good reference works for this topic which should assuage the fears of those who think that an Amendments Convention could simply start over again with a new constitution.

If I ever get my Professor Publius website up, I intend to sell MP3 versions of lectures on constitutional topics, and one of them will be a lecture laying out all the angles on an Amendments Convention, to include the ABA Report and Natelson's paper, developing the differences between them and the legal aspects.

[Bob Ireland]

***there is a greater chance of mischief occurring***

Why not attend and make sure that does not happen?

[Jim Robinson]

"That can only be achieved by removing the present occupants of the White House" -- and about 75% of those currently in congress (RINOs included). Those who refuse to abide by the constitution are traitors and should be dealt with accordingly.