Posted on 12/07/2014 9:36:03 AM PST by Jim Robinson
Conservative talkradio host Mark Levin made news Thursday when he addressed the annual conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a "non-partisan membership association of state lawmakers," and it wasn't just because he reiterated his call for an Article V "Convention of the States" to propose new amendments to the Constitution.
Levin's call for an Article V Convention of the States has been well known since the publication of his best-selling book, The Liberty Amendments, more than a year ago.
On Thursday, Levin framed the Article V Convention of the States as the beginning of the process in which state legislators can reassert their constitutional power and become, in effect, the kind of check on the out-of-control federal government the framers expected the three branches of federal government they created in the Constitution would be on each other.
"Take your power back," Levin told the enthusiastic crowd of state legislators from around the country.
Critics who claim an Article V Convention could become a "Runaway Constitutional Convention" miss the point entirely, Levin said. Critics think such a convention would have no impact, as the federal government is ignoring the Constitution already and would have little reason to observe any amendments, subsequently ratified by the states, that emerged from the Convention of the States.
"So if you ask me what makes you think the federal government will follow amendments to the Constitution if it won't follow the Constitution today, then you don't understand this process," Levin told the audience.
"By giving the state legislatures the ultimate say on major federal laws, on major federal regulations, on major Supreme Court decisions, should 3/5 of state legislatures act to override them within a two year period," Levin said, " it doesn't much matter what Washington does or doesn't. It matters what youdo."
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Maybe one of the amendments that should go in there is the right for a state to secede from the union with a 2/3 vote of its voters.
Levin understands the deadlock, but he has keen insight into human nature. What is the motivating factor with the State senators and representatives? Why is Levin likely speaking directly to them? This is a non-partisan & bi-partisan GAIN of power for each state elected official by taking back their own entitled power. That is the key motivator. The beautiful thing is there is absolutely nothing Congress or the men in black robes, or the bureaucracy can Constitutionally do about it or to stop it (unless they completely expose their true intent of setting up their own dictatorship, as you correctly inferred).
They would probably address issues slowly, but state officials have nothing to lose and everything to gain with a Convention of States. It’s really the only solution short of bloodshed to return this nation to its proper Constitutional moorings.
“I agree completely with Levin that the power of the fed must be taken back to what it was intended to be in the first place-but the chain the fed has on the states was forged gradually with federal/taxpayer money over many decades.
I may be wrong with this-but I think unless the states start saying “no” to those funds, even incrementally, they will continue to be controlled with the threat of those funds being taken away-the Common Core crap is a fine example of that-so is Obamacare-you’d think the sky is falling the minute those funds are threatened. Some states have said “no thanks” to some fed funds, but unless more do so, the fed will still have the whip, no matter what else is done...”
I think your right, only the most staward of our States will have the will to turn down such vast sums of their state’s own Tax payers resources(taken by Washington), and only in situations in which the costs out weight what is given.
The State department of education is a great example, in that one could argue in many states the primary reason for the State department of education is to manage a variety of Federal Funding grants which themselves only exist because some politician in Washington wants to claim he funded education to a constitutional that either doesnt know or doesn’t care that Education is none of Washington’s business.
I think there are however three ways we can attack this problem.
1: By legalizing lying so taht in effect States can tell Washington every lie they want so that Washington will judge them all equal no matter how they spend Federal tax dollars.
2: By legalizing the unequal footing Washington Puts State in who either can’t or won’t comply with unauthorized expenditures in theses areas.
In effect have the Federal injustice system or the present simply send them teh same amount of money no matter what.
3: Ending all Federal transfers to all states for theses programs all together. Ask the States to raise their own taxes for their own education or if they choose do with less.
I think Options 1 and 2 are the most likely and given Obamas new dictatorial powers they can be done as soon as a Republican president takes office, thus effectively eliminating the Federal department of education as a regulatory body. (in the long run the state departments too for many states)
Key to victory in this area however is still teaching our children the nature of Federalism so that they lose respect for Federal politicians who promuse to add more strings. This can and must be done by our State and local legislators mandating these classes. This is why our controlling the state legislator is most critical. Not only to controlling Washington but our future as well.
Mark Levin is today’s Thomas Paine.
That isn’t one of Levin’s suggestions. Ultimately, getting the nation back on course and operating under the Constitution is his goal. It either will or won’t.
But, if not, then what does it “legally matter” if none of the states follow any of the Constitution? I mean, as long as the leftist commies continue to think its a buffet, picking and choosing which parts “matter”?
For that matter, why does “the parts that matter” have to be on the terms of the liberal perversion? Conservatives can say the “entirety matters,” and decree, correctly, it’s the liberal states which “left the union” and defend their State & State’s rights from the enemy, both foreign and domestic.
Yes he is. And a Godsend.
Vast powers have swirled into the executive branch without our consent. We have two years at most to reclaim our republic.
Events of the last month show it to be a near total waste of time to petition members of congress. It is time to become acquainted with, and conversational with your state assemblymen and senator. Petition THEM to do their duty and demand the absolutely necessary and constitutionally required Article V convention to propose amendments.
Absolutely agree. It’s now or never time. Our state legislatures MUST HEAR that constant pounding from us and be booted out if they refuse to act.
I like that-it could work to beat them using the same tactics as they do-It worked for Alaric and the Visigoths when they sacked Rome, and after awhile things got better, too...
The chickens have come home to roost in this rural area already-there are almost as many kids homeschooled and in one of the small cottage and private schools as in the public school system, so people are demanding that the tax faucet be turned off-which, of course will curtail fed matching funds.
When we found out what the district was doing with our property taxes and the fed money-also our taxes, there was an outcry, and the battle to streamline and save is going on as we speak-like not sending up to 6 school busses on each rural route to pick up/take home as few as 5 kids in each-the distances between homes are long out here-no reason not to double up...
And if it is like that out here in BFE, I don’t even want to imagine the waste in a big urban district...
Now that 0bama has admitted to and in fact “made law”, what sort of amendment, outside of our current impeachment mechanism, could effectively force such a tyrant to be directly removed from office?
Could a process directly removing the executive via the states be a possible solution?
Comparing levin to rush is a waste. And it’s negative
And it’s very nasty michael savage ish
Rush and mark have a mutual respect.
Two, lunch hour listeners prefer the not so heavy levin, whom I can listen to all day
Let it go. Rush would never detract from mark and not from what he’s saying here
I see he hasn’t been around much unless he changed his name. So I pinged him.
One step in the right direction would be to outlaw corporate political action committees organized by businesses, another would be to outlaw federal, state, and municipal government employee unions.
Article V ping.
From the article./P>
Thank you for the ping.
“The chickens have come home to roost in this rural area already-there are almost as many kids homeschooled and in one of the small cottage and private schools as in the public school system, so people are demanding that the tax faucet be turned off-which, of course will curtail fed matching funds.”
The problem with homeschooling is our culture is already having trouble with boys and girls learning to live and work together. You isolate them further at home and the problem of demographic decline may become exasperated. So something such as strong and regular church attendance must be used as a substitute.
Still in reference to how the money is spent, its important that we turn this fight towards vouchers that even homeschooling can reclaim their money for after say a GED test, the parents who picked up the schooling costs should get a huge check, paying back all the school taxes they payed into the system over the years.
His approach to the legislators is familiar to all who listen to his show . . . yet different, for he lets them know that that restoration of our republic is in their hands.
Levin addresses this issue in his book. The solution is to make structural changes that cannot be ignored. For instance, so far the Presidential term limit is not being ignored. How would they ignore Congressional term limits? The new amendments must be carefully written to eliminate grey areas.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.