Mark Levin to my knowledge has not posited what I am pressing, that there are more than enough applications now.
I cannot recall him ever saying how many applications are with the Archivist of the United States.
On page 16 of The Liberty Amendments, he writes: “Moreover, the state legislatures determine if they want to make application for a convention; the method for selecting their delegates; and the subject matter of the convention.” So far, so good. The states do indeed determine what they will consider, at the convention!
However, I am unfortunately deeply disappointed in regard to the following:
Levin's endnote 29 of page 225: “The state legislatures can recommend specific language or amendment, but cannot seek to impose them through the application process as Article V empowers the delegates to the convention to propose amendments, which the states subsequently consider for ratification. The applications from the states must also be similar in subject area to reasonably conclude that two-thirds of the states are calling for a convention to address the same matters.”
I find his two sentences to be contradictory. The first acknowledges state power to propose amendments at the convention. The second demands states submit similar subject applications to be considered at the convention.
I can't answer why the 34 magic number didn't set off a convention. I've asked my congressman for his opinion as to how many are stacked up in Archivist’ file, but got no response.
Please, for your other questions, I do not mean to put you off, but you can scan the table of contents at the source, or my previous FR posts for a Readers Digest summary better than I can do off the top of my head at this moment.
my guess
this is concerning the convention itself - NOT the process that leads to the convention
the state legislatures pick the delegates but cannot mandate that they do whatever the legislature tells them to do - kinda like choosing a politician - you can tell them what you expect but after elected, he has independence - i think the delegates to the electoral college are the same way
“...which the states subsequently consider for ratification.”
then the states consider the amendments submitted from the delegates of the convention and cannot change them - not sure if it is voted on by the people or if the state legislatures vote on them
“The applications from the states must also be similar in subject area to reasonably conclude that two-thirds of the states are calling for a convention to address the same matters.”
this is about the process of calling for a convention - meeting the requirements to be counted as a yes vote to call a convention - NOT the amendments themselves
the hamline thing seems to say that the subject area means nothing - if maine calls for a convention to mandate free cigarettes from the federal government, and texas calls for a convention to mandate free ammo from the feds, that would be 2 states for a convention - levin says the subjects must be similar (i suppose) for it to count as 2 states for a convention
from above, once a convention is called, the states cannot control what the delegates send back to the states to vote on
that hamline article talks of ‘if the subjucts must be similar, there are x number of states already - if the subjects do not matter, there are y number of states already
check section vii
I'm not sure why that would be contradictory; he's basically saying the call for amendments can contain suggested/recommended language but cannot specify the exact text of the [proposed] amendment
and that similar calls should be grouped together (e.g. "balancing the budget" and "getting control of federal spending" and "eliminating all unfunded liabilities" could all be grouped under the topic of financial responsibility
).