WHEREAS, the federal government has invaded the legitimate roles of the states through the manipulative process of federal mandates, most of which are unfunded to a great extent; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has ceased to live under a proper interpretation of the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, it is the solemn duty of the states to protect the liberty of our people, particularly for the generations to come, by proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States through a convention of the states under Article V of the United States Constitution to place clear restraints on these and related abuses of power.
I'm sure that every state in the Union would pass a Constitutional amendment. The trouble is that it would not be the same amendment.
In related news, Jon Ward talked to retiring Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, who'll be a private citizen in 10 months. His plans? "I'm going to be involved with the Convention of States. I'm going to try to motivate so that that happens. I think that's the only answer. I'm just going to go around and talk about why it's needed, and try to convince state legislatures to do it."
That would be helpful to the cause. Glenn Beck has his audience, but the mainstream media sees him as a duplicitous clown. (Really, how many times can he make news for apologizing about his tone, from back when he was famous?) Mark Levin is an icon on the right, but a shrill radio host who refers to the next Democratic presidential nominee as "Hillary Rotten Clinton" and "her thighness" might not be an ideal intellectual ambassador. But Coburn? There's a chair molded to fit him on the set of Morning Joe.
IMHO this is big news and no one is discussing it.
A former Senator leaves a dysfunctional body to champion it's ultimate fix...
Be careful what you wish for. In this era of the low information voter and the ascendency of the entitlement mentality an constitutional convention could backfire big time. Once started there’s no way to predict where it will go.
But a convention of the states under Article V of the United States Constitution But this is Slate; that explains the misinfomation. I don't believe anyone is calling for a Constitutional Convention.
Article V
ping-a-ling
IT IS NOT A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION!
IT IS A CONVENTION TO PROPOSE AMENDMENTS!
The senator needs to add an amendment to the existing constitution not have a constitutional convention. Opening up a CC will open all the constitution up to revision to include changing existing amendments as there is no control over want can be reviewed in a CC (loss of the second anyone?).
The progressives want this more than any other method as they will likely do anything pack the convention vote as this is simpler than changing the minds of the many to get what they want.
This will let our enemies do their best to undermine and influence the changes to our constitution; I believe that the kleptocractic politicians and “social leaders” will take great amounts of money for their vote and screw us in the process.
If this is the best idea, then the dissolving of the United states is certain.
The main problem with the Constitution, imo, is actually dishonest pro-big federal government interpretations of it which the crooks running DC get away with as a consequence of inexcusable, widespread ignorance of the federal government's constitutionally limited powers.
What needs to be done to restore state sovereignty is to impeach a bunch of crooks in DC. The problem is that the "leaders" in DC who have the power to impeach the crooks are themeselves crooks who also need to be impeached.
What patriots need to do instead of crying for the Constitution to be amended is the following. They need to work to elect a 2/3 conservative majority in each House of Congress in the 2014 elections. If they succeed then Congress will be positioned as follows.
Congress controlled by a conservative supermajority will have the power, under the Constitution's Clause 2 of Section 7 of Article I, to override presidential vetoes. In other words, Congress will be able to repeal Obamacare Democratcare, for example, without Obama's signature.
If the commies running the state and local governments give up the enormous federal funding first, we might begin to trust them more.
Morning Joe? Who listens to Morning Joe? Up until then you had some good stuff going.
Sloppy writing or intentionally misleading?
-PJ
Here’s my proposal:
WHEREAS, the federal government has created a crushing national debt through improper and imprudent spending; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has invaded the legitimate roles of the states through the manipulative process of federal mandates, most of which are unfunded to a great extent; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has ceased to live under a proper interpretation of the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, it is the solemn duty of the states to protect the liberty of our people, particularly for the generations to come, by proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States through a convention of the states under Article V of the United States Constitution to place clear restraints on these and related abuses of power.
THEREFORE, let is be resolved that henceforth, the Federal Government, and the Courts, shall actually follow the Constitution as it exists.
This paper examines the growth of government during this century as a result of giving women the right to vote. Using cross-sectional time-series data for 1870 to 1940, we examine state government expenditures and revenue as well as voting by U.S. House and Senate state delegations and the passage of a wide range of different state laws. Suffrage coincided with immediate increases in state government expenditures and revenue and more liberal voting patterns for federal representatives, and these effects continued growing over time as more women took advantage of the franchise. Contrary to many recent suggestions, the gender gap is not something that has arisen since the 1970s, and it helps explain why American government started growing when it did.
Hysteria \Hys*te"ri*a\, n. [NL.: cf. F. hyst['e]rie. See
Hysteric.] (Med.)
A nervous affection, occurring almost exclusively in women,
in which the emotional and reflex excitability is
exaggerated, and the will power correspondingly diminished,
so that the patient loses control over the emotions, becomes
the victim of imaginary sensations, and often falls into
paroxism or fits.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The chief symptoms are convulsive, tossing movements of
the limbs and head, uncontrollable crying and laughing,
and a choking sensation as if a ball were lodged in the
throat. The affection presents the most varied
symptoms, often simulating those of the gravest
diseases, but generally curable by mental treatment
alone. Hysteric
That being said, IMO, Coburn is correct to call this a Constitutional Convention.
A Constitutional Convention is a gathering of delegates for the purpose of creating a new constitution OR changing an existing one.
If 34 states held a convention to change just one word of the Constitution, that could be correctly called a Constitutional Convention. This is just my opinion based on my research and understanding.
Lastly, I'm perfectly happy with whatever we agree to call, just as long as we get it done.
Convention of States - Alabama Way to go Alabama! A good introduction.
'Convention of states' to rein in government? Another great summary explanation.
The Case for an Article V. Convention. Fantastic explanation of Article V convention to the Mass State Legislature.
Recommend watching the above videos first and then on to:
Convention of States Lots of information here.
A Summary of Mark Levin’s Proposed Amendments by Jacquerie
Chapter 1 of Mark Levin’s Book, The Liberty Amendments
Mark Levin, Constitution Article V, and the Liberty Amendments
Article V Project to Restore Liberty
Rep. Bill Taylor introduces a Convention of States
Mark Levin Article V, Liberty Amendments youtube video hub
Three hour video of C-Span interview with Mark Levin
Gaining Steam? Nearly 100 Lawmakers Descend on Mount Vernon to Talk Convention of States The beginning.
Convention to Propose Amendments to the United States Constitution
The Other Way to Amend the Constitution: The Article V Constitutional Convention Amendment Process
Friends of Article V Convention Links
Article V Convention: Path of Least Resistance By Robert Berry
Article V Handbook - for State Legislators
State Legislators Article V Caucus State Legislators, Join up at this site!
Send this list of links to your State Representatives and Senators here: Contact your State Legislators.
Sample Letter to state Representatives regarding the Convention of States Project and also, Talking Points. Both from Here.
Let’s all work together to get this going. Call or write your state Senator today.
The Federal Government is broken. We owe it to The Founders and ourselves to attempt a rational Article V amendment process.