Nullification is a palliative response. It doesn’t deal with the problem of concentrated power in DC.
Like you, I am not all that confident we’ll dig ourselves out of the mess it took a hundred years to get into, but I see no other option.
History will not look kindly on a people who gaffed off their duty to peacefully restore freedom.
Posted again with minor changes:
To redress the balance of powers between the federal government and the States and to restore effective suffrage of State Legislatures to Congress, the following amendment is proposed:
AMENDMENT XXVIII
Section 1.
A Senator in Congress shall be subject to recall by their respective state legislature or by voter referendum in their respective state.
Section 2.
Upon a majority vote in two-thirds of state legislatures, federal statutes and federal court decisions shall be overridden.
Section 3.
Term limits for Senators in Congress shall be set by vote in their respective state legislatures but in no case shall be set less than twelve years.
_______________________________________________
The above draft incorporates a good deal of Mark Levin’s Liberty Amendments. Mark Levin said that his Liberty Amendments are ‘suggestions’ but wisely counseled that whatever amendments are taken up, that as a set they must address the full scale of the problem. For example, it would not be wise for State Legislators to focus only on budgetary matters.
The above draft first focuses on restoring federal powers to state legislators which at this stage of Article V must seem natural and appropriate for them to take up.
The first State Sponsored Article V Amendment must be perceived as in the domain of the State Legislatures, in their interest, in their role and jurisdiction. State legislators taking up an Article V process means giving themselves power ‘appropriately’, perceived as ‘natural’and within their desires, boundaries and responsibilities. Perception here is key.
State legislators must carry ***at least one amendment all the way across the finish line*** without distraction from Congress which can be expected to persuade state legislatures to give up the process and turn the issues over to them which ironically was done in the history of the 17th Amendment.
At least one Article V amendment carried by state legislatures will set a precedent and put Congress on notice that power has shifted and rebalanced. This is crucially important.
Respecting Mark Levin’s wise counsel that State Legislators participating under Article V must get their hands around the “Whole Problem”, the completion and achievement of one State Sponsored Article V Amendment sets the stage for further such amendments to address restrictions on federal spending, bureaucracy, commerce clause abuses and voting reform (voter ID).
So the above Amendment 28 aims to ‘grease the skids’ for more of what Mark Levin suggested and by first addressing an amendment that gets the States back in the game.
Please watch or watch again Mark Levin’s Tour de Force of a speech given before ALEC last month:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdZuV8JnvvA
As you know, the reason for America and the Constitution is not to protect the rights of government, but to protect the rights of the individual. The Constitution created a central government for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedoms on the individual from threats without and within. What I propose if all else fails, is not palliative to the cause of individual freedom. IMO, if all else fails, the well-being of individual freedom and a free society trumps the issue of an unconstitutional central government that will not cure.
True, nullification does not directly cure the D.C. dysfunction, although it is possible it could influence such. But if D.C. can not or will not resolve, then state nullification could lead to a direct cure for those who wish to be free and live in a free society.
I am all for peaceful resolution to fix an illegal government within the stated remedies of the Constitution. However, failing these efforts (and we must reasonably be prepared for that possibility) nullification is an alternative to those who hold freedom dear. It doesn’t have to be violent, although it could eventually lead to such.