Posted on 09/03/2014 3:52:11 AM PDT by markomalley
Sen. Tom Coburn is pushing for a national convention to amend the Constitution.
The Oklahoma Republican, who has grown disenchanted with gridlock in Washington, will officially launch his effort after he retires from the Senate in a few months.
Support for a convention of the states to overhaul the nation’s charter document has increased among conservatives, who are frustrated by Congress’s failure to reform entitlement programs. “I think [George] Mason was prophetic that we would devolve to where the federal government became too powerful, too big and too unwieldy. That’s why he put Article V in,” Coburn told The Hill in an interview.
Article V of the Constitution stipulates that two-thirds of the states may call a convention to propose amendments to the nation’s founding document. It has never been successfully invoked.
All 17 times the nation has amended the Constitution since the adopting of the Bill of Rights in 1791, it has done so by proposing changes that won two-thirds support in the Senate and House and were then ratified by three-fourths of the states.
But with Congress these days hard-pressed to cobble together the consensus necessary to perform even the most basic functions of government — such as keeping it funded — a convention of the states is looking more attractive to Coburn.
“That’s one of the things I’m going to be working on,” Coburn said of his post-congressional plans.
“I think we ought to have a balanced budget amendment, I think we ought to have term limits. I think we ought to put a chokehold on regulation and re-establish the powers of the Congress,” he said.
Coburn, a physician who is battling cancer, believes a constitutional convention would allow the legislative branch to seize back powers that have drifted to the presidency over the years.
President Obama’s use of executive action to pursue an array of policy goals related to climate change, immigration and healthcare reform has precipitated what many conservatives are calling a constitutional crisis.
Coburn and Obama are friends who formed a bond soon after they came to the Senate in 2005. But that hasn’t prevented Coburn from criticizing the president and his policies.
Some liberal activists and scholars say they could support an Article V convention, but only if it were set up to be “cross-partisan.” That way, it could be used to rein in political spending by special-interest groups, which has exploded since the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC.
“If the convention is set up in a partisan way, you can be certain that whatever the convention does will fail because it takes 38 states to ratify any amendment,” said Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School and a self-described Democrat who supports holding a convention to reform the Constitution.
“The legitimate constitutional questions that are being put on the table are questions about the balanced budget, the size of government … as well as the integrity of the electoral process, that’s the stuff the people on the left are talking about,” he said.
Unlike a constitutional convention, which would attempt to rewrite the Constitution entirely, an Article V convention would be more limited in scope and would focus on amending the document.
Coburn said he was not sure how many Democrats could be persuaded to support a convention to reform the Constitution.
So far, most of the support has been on the right side of the political spectrum.
Coburn has been in contact with Michael Farris, the chancellor of Patrick Henry College, and Mark Meckler, the president of Citizens for Self-Governance, who are leading a push for a convention of the states.
“We’re talking to him about that,” said Farris.
Legislatures in Florida, Georgia and Alaska have already passed a proposal that Farris and Meckler have discussed with Coburn calling for a constitutional convention to address the need for balanced budgets and term limits.
Farris said his goal is for 20 more state legislatures to adopt the proposal in 2015 and the remaining dozen or so to endorse it in 2016. He wants to hold the convention in 2016 before the presidential election.
While states cannot dictate the precise language of the amendments at the convention, Farris said they can set the scope of the debate.
“By 2020, 89 percent of the federal budget will be consumed by interest on the national debt, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. That’s unsustainable,” Farris added. “Getting fiscal restraints on the federal government in the areas of taxing, spending and debt; it’s essential for the survival of the country.”
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh recently embraced the idea as an alternative to impeaching Obama.
“So there is impeachment to deal with a lawless president, a lawless executive. But there is another way, and it is right in the Constitution. It’s right there in Article V of the Constitution,” Limbaugh said on his show last month. “Article V allows for the states to establish a constitutional convention for the purposes of dealing with circumstances such as we are experiencing today. If the Congress will not impeach, it’s right in Article V: The states have the power, if they want to do it.”
Conservative radio host Mark Levin has also endorsed a convention of the states.
Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Tom Udall (N.M.), are trying use the traditional path to pass a constitutional amendment that would grant Congress the authority to regulate campaign fundraising, which would essentially overturn Citizens United.
But Lessig said this initiative has virtually no chance of passing and is primarily designed to motivate Democratic donors.
Anyone who thinks an Article V convention wouldn’t be absolutely and completely hijacked by progressives in both parties is living in a dream world.
Also, clarify the General Welfare clause so we can get rid of so many of the wasteful programs that have been justified by that mis-applied phrase.
BUMP. This is a bad, bad idea. It opens up a Pandora's Box.
I refuse to be convinced otherwise, the opinions of Mark Levin, Tom Coburn, and Freepers notwithstanding.
That's another idea for an amendment. Eliminate life tenure for federal judges, including SCOTUS. Make the terms of office for 15 or 20 years, and they cannot be reappointed to the same level of the court. So they could serve one term at the district court level, one term at the court of appeals (if they were appointed), and one term at SCOTUS, if appointed. That would be it.
And at the same time, prohibit the federal courts from creating laws by imposing their own solutions on us. If the court overturns a law or a part of a law, it must go back to Congress if it is to be changed - otherwise the law ceases to exist. The court cannot change the law to make it work (by calling a fine a tax, for example).
Don’t be fooled by this carpola. The GOP has controlled both houses of Congress off and on for many years. They could have cut the size of government as much as they wanted. They didn’t want to. GW Bush could have closed every govt agency that was created by an Executive Order. Instead he came up with the prescription drug program and increased the size and scope of government.
Have you noticed how good the Republicans are at voting en masse for new government power grabs but seemingly helpless to reduce the size of govt?
If we take back the Senate in November and elect a Republican in 2016 they can cut the government back as much as they want.
Not true. The states won't send representatives with carte blanche authority to do as they wish. They will send delegates, with specific commissions that limit their powers.
The only worthwhile amendments are structural, like returning the states to the senate, term limits, sunsetting of laws and legislative pre-approval of all administrative regulations. These are the sort that cannot be corrupted, and only under such changes is there a chance our freedoms can be restored.
I suggest public, upside-down naked crucifixions at halftime during Monday Night Football.
Not true. The states won't send representatives with carte blanche authority to do as they wish. They will send delegates, with specific commissions that limit their powers.
You mean like the fellows who sent delegates to tweak the Articles of Confederation?
Once you have a ConCon in session, there is nothing you can do to stop it.
AmP
Which delegates violated their commissions?
ConCon is for dumbdumbs
Have you noticed how good the Republicans are at voting en masse for new government power grabs but seemingly helpless to reduce the size of govt? ...
Exactly right. Republicans had both houses of congress as well as the presidency when GW Bush was in office. What we got were illegal incandescent lightbulbs. I have no reason to believe we'd get anything different the next time around.
While I understand your anger, I disagree with your solution. For treason, a firing squad will do.
“Exactly right. Republicans had both houses of congress as well as the presidency when GW Bush was in office. What we got were illegal incandescent lightbulbs. I have no reason to believe we’d get anything different the next time around.”
Yes and its somewhat likely we will take back the Senate and then the Presidency in 2016. Raise your hand if you believe the Republicans will shutter even one rogue agency of this bloated evil behemoth of a bureaucracy. Do you think they will shut down the EPA, Dept of Energy, Dept of Educ, HUD, BLM?
I predict the new Republican majority will implement immigration reform/amnesty, fail to secure the border, extend the Patriot Act, fail to demilitarize the govt agencies and keep the TSA with their hands down your pants.
The new GOP globalists will likely have to repeal O’Care as it is crumbling under its own weight.
Paul Ryan will be in charge of the budget so tax reform will consist of “closing the loopeholes” which is progressive speak for raising your individual taxes whilst telling you they are lowering the tax rate. You will still pay more. No Fair Tax for you. You didn’t really think the GOP was going to let go of that easy peasy way to just take your money before it ever goes in your pocket did you?
Muslims will still pour into the country building their mega mosques in every city.
When Dubya got elected the first time I was ecstatic. I thought well in 8 years he will be able to do fabulous things like real tax reform yada, yada, yada. Instead he began to erect a police state, bulk up the bureaucracy and take us to war in Iraq.
I’m going to go vote in Nov and in 2016 and hope I’m wrong but who thinks I will be?
Coburn is wrong. The flaw is not in the Constitution but in failure to follow the clear words of that document. Replacing those words with new words will not solve the problem that liberals are lawless and do not mind violating the Constitution. However, a convention poses the danger of producing a bogus and illegitimate “Constitution” that strips us of legal protection for our God-given rights.
Reverse the Kelo decision.
Need an ammendment to limit the power of the government to seize property under “eminent domain”.
Property may NOT be seized to increase a tax base.
The current problem is having the federal government follow the constitution as it is written. We have to fix that before any change to words on paper will have any meaning.
If we can't stop the left in their continual degradation of the meaning of the current constitution, any new constitution will also fail.
This is a risky roll of the dice. The conservatives can't win on relatively small stuff, like eliminating the Dept of Education, but think they can control a constitutional convention? Not one chance in hell.
What this gives the left is one big chance to stuff the election box and win it all.
Article V ping.
Thanks for the ping.
I am behind this 100%.
...but there are a lot of doofusses out there, and
... there is a lot of ejumacating that needs to be done.
If the political class won’t respect and obey the Constitution we have what on Earth makes anyone think they’d pay attention to a revised version? The machine isn’t broken and doesn’t need fixing, but the operators need to be replaced with new ones who are at least willing to follow the instruction manual.
Exactly!
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.