Twenty States have filed a Convention of States application in their legislatures!

[cotton1706]

And it's only February 3rd!

AZ, KS, MA, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NJ, NH, NM, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WY.

In addition, three states actually passed applications last year, FL, AK and GA.

That's 23 out of 34 states well on their way!

[Pontiac]

We need to get Ohio on this list

Ping

[Publius]

We’re at 3 down, 31 to go. Resolutions have been introduced in a bunch of states, but not passed by the legislature.

[cotton1706]

The convention is not intended to stop any one man, but to institute government reforms that the elites NEVER would.

[SSS Two]

A Constitutional Convention is a wide open affair. Be careful what you wish for.

+10

[dware]

What does an amendment convention have to do with individual Lefties? Who do you expect to attend?

Well, Levin is arguably a righty, and his proposals are being touted as the start of the amendment process. Are the lefties going to be completely left out of making amendment proposals?

[PapaNew]

Patience and faith Bro.

[M Kehoe]

Bttt.

5.56mm

[taxcontrol]

Three amendments I would like to see:

1) Each state legislature shall be bicameral and composed of an upper house (senate) that shall have one seat for each county within the state. State senators shall be elected from candidates who have physically resided and vote from within that county for a period of no less than two years prior to the election. The house shall consist of an equal number of representatives distributed by districts of equal number of voters.

Reason - this is a long term strategic move to restore the voice of the rural voters in the state legislators and will work to move the states into a more conservative direction.

2) The presidential election shall appoint representatives to the electoral college by awarding the vote for each congressional district to the candidate that wins a simple majority of votes. Should no candidate receive a simple majority, a run off election shall be held within 30 days from the two candidates that received the most votes in the election. The two remaining electoral votes for the state shall be awarded 1 to the candidate that received the most votes in the state and 1 to the candidate that won the most districts. Should there be a tie in either, the current sitting Governor shall award the votes from among the candidates that are tied.

Reason - this is a move to prevent the “popular vote” movement and works with #1 towards a more conservative electoral map. It takes power away from the dense city/urban areas and breaks up the big states from being so much of a swing in the election.

3) The 16th amendment shall be repealed and the house shall determine the amount of money to be raised via taxes. This amount shall then be divided into two equal parts that are then subdivided by the number of Senators and the other by the number of representatives. This per senator and per representative amount shall be used to then calculate each states cost of representation. Each state shall then via an act of it’s legislation, determine how to raise the funds to pay the federal tax bill. The federal tax bill shall be paid first before any other funds are spent on state programs, entitlements or expenses.

Reason - this will work to move the “burden” of the taxes back to the states where they are closer to their voters and it is easier to remove them from office.

There are others but this would be very useful to change the direction of America from tax and spend socialist to much more of a conservative direction.

[sergeantdave]

“What happens when the lefties start making their proposals? “

They get shot down. Conservatives control 26 states, while the rat fascists control 11.

[Sasparilla]

“What happens when the efties start making their proposals?”
You mean like repeal and replacement of the hated Second Amendment? Chaos ensues.

[TomGuy]

I do not understand why the supporters think the Republican state legislatures would be any different from the Republicans in the US Congress. Many of those US Congresspersons came from the state legislatures.

But somehow, they are magically going to be less ‘moderate’ and more conservative?

==

[Crazieman]

So, do you support the 10th amendment?

If so, then why do you not support Article V?

Can’t be for and against federalism at the same time.

[Jacquerie]

States will send DELEGATES with specific instructions, agency relationships backed up with assurance of felony prosecution for usurping those instructions.

Not a remote plurality of states will send delegates with instructions to destroy the republic.

[Jacquerie]

The institutions, congress and state legislatures are quite different.

The vast majority of state legislators are part time public servants. Most are businessmen who, unlike members of congress, know full well the impact of uncontrolled DC oppression.

[conservativegranny]

This is NOT a Constitutional Convention. It’s a Convention of the States. Big difference. It is not a convention to change the Constitution but to propose amendments to it. How many amendments are in our constitution now? It’s the same thing that Congress does except it is done by the states.The states also have been given the power, in the constitution to propose amendments under Article V.

This article V provides two different ways to amend our Constitution. Either through Congress or through state Legislatures. I believe we only need 2/3 of the states to have a Convention to propose amendments.

As to the lefties taking over the convention this is another misnomer that is thrown out there either as a scare tactic or out of lack of knowledge about Article V.

Amendments need 3/4 of the states to ratify. That’s quite a high bar as it should be. The state legislatures themselves choose their delegates.They determine how the delegates are selected and the agenda.

The Congress has very little to say or do with a Convention of the States. If 2/3’s of the states want a Convention must call the convention. If the amendments are ratified by 3/4’s of the states they are the law whether Congress likes it or not.

The founders put this in our Constitution for a good reason. They were giving us a way to recover our country from tyranny without the shedding of blood. They could envision a situation like we are facing today and gave us a way out. It’s the only option left to us it seems aside from the bullet.

People should really read Mark Levin’s book “The Liberty Amendments”. Mark really knows his stuff and it does a wonderful job of explaining the history of article V and what a Convention of the States actually is. He also has a list of 10 suggested amendments and an explanation of each. These are a sample of what type of amendments may be proposed. He also has talked about this quite often on his radio show and answered all the questions, objections and misinformation.

You can also search FR for threads on this topic. They are out there and all of this has already been addressed.

When I first heard about this Convention of the States I had the same reaction that many did. I did not understand what it was and was not well informed about Article V. So I did some research and purchased Levin’s book. I’ve also listened to him speak about it several times.

[Crazieman]

Neal Boortz was convinced by Levin over the convention, and he used to be an ardent opponent of the idea.

[M Kehoe]

Oh, I forgot, here's what I want from this convention...

I want the 14th amendment amended (I'll discuss that later), I want the 16th and 17th amendments repealed.

I want the 9th and 10th amendments enforced.

Balance the budget (except in times of war and disaster).

Lastly, the 2nd amendment should read, The right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

5.56mm

[Publius]

Nice, comprehensive reply. Here is my usual boring, pedantic boilerplate that I post to these threads.

***

The amendatory process under Article V consists of three steps: Proposal, Disposal, and Ratification.

Proposal:

There are two ways to propose an amendment to the Constitution.

• The Congressional Method requires the House and Senate to pass an amendment by a two-thirds majority.
• The Amendments Convention Method requires the legislatures of two-thirds of the states to apply to Congress to call a Convention for Proposing Amendments. The states may request a single-subject convention or a general convention open to all subjects. Once the two-thirds threshold is reached, Congress is required to set a time and place for the convention.

Article V gives Congress and an Amendments Convention exactly the same power to propose amendments, no more and no less.

Disposal:

Once Congress, or an Amendments Convention, proposes amendments, Congress must decide whether the states will ratify by the:

• State Legislature Method, or the
• State Ratifying Convention Method.

The State Ratifying Convention Method has only been used twice: once to ratify the Constitution, and once to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition.

Ratification:

Depending upon which ratification method is chosen by Congress, either the state legislatures vote up-or-down on the proposed amendment, or the voters elect a state ratifying convention to vote up-or-down. If three-quarters of the states vote to ratify, the amendment becomes part of the Constitution.

Forbidden Subjects:

Article V contains two explicitly forbidden subjects and one implicitly forbidden subject.

Explicitly forbidden:

• No amendment may be added to the Constitution concerning slavery or capitation taxes until 1808. We’re past that deadline.
• No amendment may be added to the Constitution to change the principle of equal representation in the Senate unless every state deprived of that right approves. If California wants five senators, every state must have five senators. To permit violation of this principle, every state would have to ratify the amendment, not just three-fourths.

Implicitly forbidden:

• The Constitution of 1787 may not be abrogated and replaced with a new document. Article V only authorizes “a convention for proposing amendments to this Constitution”; therefore, the Constitution of 1787 is locked in place forever. Congress and an Amendments Convention have exactly the same Proposal power; therefore, neither Congress nor an Amendments Convention can start over. Both bodies can only propose amendments. To permit the drafting of a new constitution, this provision in Article V would first have to be repealed; it would be a two-step process.

I have two reference works for those interested.

The first is from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative pro-business group. This document has been sent to every state legislator in the country.

Proposing Constitutional Amendments by a Convention of the States: A Handbook for State Lawmakers

The second is a 1973 report from the American Bar Association attempting to identify gray areas in the amendatory process to include an Amendments Convention. It represents the view of the ruling class of 40 years ago. While I dislike some of their conclusions, they have laid out the precedents that may justify those conclusions. What I respect is the comprehensive job they did in locating all the gray areas. They went so far as to identify a gray area that didn't pop up until the Equal Rights Amendment crashed and burned a decade later. Even if you find yourself in disagreement with their vision, it's worth reading to see the view of the ruling class toward the process.

Report of the ABA Special Constitutional Convention Study Committee

[Sergio]

I’ve only got three amendments I would like to see added.

1. Any and all laws, rules, regulations, statutes, codes, resolutions, edicts, presidential order, taxes, fees, garnishments, forfeitures, benefit, etc., that apply to any citizen, shall be equally applied to any and all government officials.

2. Any and all laws, rules, regulations, statutes, codes, resolutions, edicts, presidential order, taxes, fees, garnishments, forfeitures, benefit, etc., that apply to any government official, shall be equally applied to any and all citizens.

3. The retirement and medical benefits of any government official, as provided by the government, shall never exceed those of a military Colonel/Captain (0-6) with similar years of service.

[Sasparilla]

“Conservatives control 26 states, while the rat fascists control 11.”

Yep. That’s right now. This is not proceeding at lightning speed. It could be several years before anything amendment wise could even happen. Even reaching agreement on Amendments to be proposed and their wording will be a lengthy process.

Our government only moves at a snail’s pace. Who knows what the political balance of power will be when this happens. Doubtful agreement will be reached and action taken before 2016 elections. Alot is on the line with this. Its a real crapshoot about future political clout and who will control state houses when this comes to a head.