Florida Senate Rules Committee: Call to an Article V Amendment Convention.

Florida Senate ^

[Jacquerie]

The Rules Committee of the Florida Senate will take up SM476 this coming Thursday, March 20th at 10:30 AM.

SM476 is an application to Congress for an Article V state amendment convention:

Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

(1) That the Legislature of the State of Florida does hereby make application to Congress pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the United States to call an Article V convention for the sole purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States which:

(a) Impose fiscal restraints on the Federal Government.
(b) Limit the power and jurisdiction of the Federal Government.
(c) Limit the terms of office for federal officials and members of Congress.

(2) That these three proposed amendment categories are severable from one another and may be counted individually toward the required two-thirds number of applications made by the state legislatures for the calling of an Article V convention.

Rules Committee:

Chair: Senator John Thrasher (R)
Vice Chair: Senator Christopher L. Smith (D)

Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto (R)
Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (R)
Senator Bill Galvano (R)
Senator Andy Gardiner (R)
Senator Jack Latvala (R)
Senator Tom Lee (R)
Senator Gwen Margolis (D)
Senator Bill Montford (D)
Senator Joe Negron (R)
Senator Garrett Richter (R)
Senator Jeremy Ring (D)
Senator David Simmons (R)
Senator Eleanor Sobel (D)

[Bob Ireland]

***calling for a Constitutional Convention***

I have debated with myself for a few days about responding to this post... I wonder what your alternative is to attempting to restore our Constitutional Republic.

An Article 5 state conflab is not a Constitutional convention, altho I suppose it could become one if you could get 28 states to agree on such a thing. The real question is: what are we going to do to re-establish states' rights and Constitutional government? Right now the Constitution is all but dead - and so is states' rights.

James Madison - who basically wrote the Constitution - when asked about spending some tax money on helping some [flood?] victims, said that he could find no provision in the Constitution for taking money from one group of people in order to benefit another group of people directly. Just last week I heard that about 70% of fed govt spending is in pay-outs to individuals and the sort [obviously discounting servicing the debt!]

I cannot think of a clearer example for demonstrating just how dead the Constitution is... and states' rights along with that. The whole thrust of Ob@maCare is to mandate the states to spend millions on Medicaid - free healthcare for the masses. States that have declined to participate are being savaged by their own populace.

I cannot see elections solving this overthrow of our Constitutional Republic. Any attempt at correction, be it Article 5, state secession, revolution, military take-over... whatever... is fraught with dangers and pitfalls.

What is your alternative to an Article 5 conflab?