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SEE: Reflections on the Mt. Vernon Assembly By Michael Farris "We are beginning to reach critical mass in our efforts to use Article V of the Constitution to rein in the power of the federal government. The Mount Vernon Assembly is one of the major steps in that effort." Read Michael’s article and one immediately detects he has no intention to have a productive and respectful discussion on the issue by immediately demeaning his opponents, claiming they have” increased both the loudness and shrillness of their long-standing claims…” Michael continues: ”Here is why their arguments are doomed to fail: 1....

Attention COS patriots: Georgia needs your help! Tomorrow, January 24, at 9:30am the state senate Rules Committee will hold a hearing to discuss the COS application. This is a huge step towards passing the application in Georgia, and we need to show the committee we mean business. So here’s what you can do: If you live in Georgia, go to the meeting! It will be held at the Georgia State Capitol in hearing room #450. We need to pack the room so the senators know how many Georgians support a Convention of States. If you can’t make it to Atlanta,...

Fellow Conservatives: We have some very sad news to report. Dr. Tom Coburn (R-OK)U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has announced that he will resign from the Senate this year. Dr. Coburn is battling a serious recurrence of cancer. This is a big loss for Oklahoma and the country. Dr. Coburn has been a tireless fighter against wasteful Washington spending. No senator has done more to research and expose our government's gross abuse of American taxpayers. He is a true citizen legislator and we need more like him in Washington. Please take a moment to read Jim DeMint's statement about the...

Recently, The New American has reported on the efforts by radio talk show host Mark Levin and others to push for a constitutional convention (a convention of the states, in the parlance of the proponents). In his new book, Levin argues that such a convention is the last hope “to reform the federal government from its degenerate, bloated, imperial structure back to its (smaller) republican roots.” Unfortunately, many otherwise well-educated and well-meaning conservatives have succumbed to Levin’s siren song and they have gone so far as to deny the constitutionality of nullification and to insist that an Article V convention...

It turns out that Senator Tom Coburn is a big supporter of Mark Levin’s new book The Liberty Amendments. When asked last night about this new 1000 plus page spending bill and the fact that the Senate will vote on it before anyone gets a chance to read it, Sen. Tom Coburn told Mark Levin that you can’t prevent this stuff from happening because all we have is a bunch of career politicians who only care about getting reelected. He says the only way to fix Washington is for the states to convene a Convention of the States and limit...

Seventy-five percent of South Carolina's voters are dissatisfied with the federal government and 71 percent are in favor of an Article V Convention of States, according to S.C. Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken. In a statewide poll that included 1,264 voters from various ethnicities, age groups and from every county conducted by True South Communications, Taylor posed two main questions. When asked if South Carolina should join other states in calling for a convention, Taylor said 32 percent were in favor, 32 percent opposed and 36 percent were undecided. The idea behind Taylor's initiative is that if two-thirds of states submit...

Discussing the possibility of amending the U.S. Constitution drew approximately 100 legislators from 32 states, according to an Idaho lawmaker who attended the event. He described it as “a great start.” The lawmakers gathered in Virginia at the Mount Vernon estate of President George Washington. But, he added, a long process still lies ahead before amendments can even be drafted. “It went very well, it’s a great start,” said Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian. “The most exciting thing for me is that we have a good plan of action. This is not going to happen quickly, and we’re moving forward with...

Have you ever wondered why it is that gay marriage dominates the media and the political landscape when it effects only about 2% of the population, but issues important to conservatives get pushed aside or are ignored even though we are an estimated 44% of the population? Well, here's your chance to get up, get involved in changing all that and urge others to do the same.

Earlier this month, Virginia and South Carolina became the first states to pre-file our application, and Florida followed soon after. We hope to put more states on the list soon! So far, we have legislative sponsors in ten states: Arkansas Colorado Florida Iowa Montana New Mexico South Carolina Virginia West Virginia Wyoming

They gathered at the homestead of George Washington, 15 miles from the capital city named for him. The purpose? To discuss how, safely, to revive an overlooked, but invaluable, provision in the United States Constitution to allow a supermajority of states to rein in a power-drunk federal government. According to a press release issued after the Assembly’s adjournment, “They emphasized the importance of any convention being done in a way that accomplishes the will of the people while protecting the sanctity of the Constitution, as this action could ultimately lead to proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as authorized under...

The newest movement to save the republic began this past Saturday on the grounds of George Washington’s old estate. Shortly before 9 a.m., nearly 100 state legislators from 32 states filed into the library that sits above the museums of Mount Vernon. It was state legislators only; supporters (and reporters) learned that the hard way, as they called for details or were stopped at the security gates. Inside, the legislators said a prayer, recited the Pledge of Allegiance, and got to work talking about how to form a convention of states that could amend the Constitution–without interference from Congress. They’d...

Democrats just love democracy. Who could possibly oppose it? Didn’t progressive icon Woodrow Wilson tell the nation that its purpose was to make the world safe for democracy? What reasonable person could be against all power to the people? I am, and I am in good company. Our Framing generation had a short, yet sufficient experience with overly democratic state governments to figure out that majoritarian abuse of minorities was just as harmful and dangerous to freedom as the executive tyranny of George III. Benjamin Rush famously said that while the constitutions of 1776-1777 barred the front door to executive...

Approval ratings for Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court are all at record lows, reflecting the public’s dissatisfaction with a runaway federal government. Many are concerned about Washington D.C.’s culture of corruption, entitlement programs on the path to bankruptcy, and a complicated tax code and bureaucracy which stifle both economic growth and liberty. With this in mind, nearly one hundred state legislators from 32 different states gathered at George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon, Virginia, on Saturday. They met to discuss the possibility of a Convention of the States for the purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution, as...

Close to 100 legislators from 32 states met in Mount Vernon, Va., Saturday to discuss the possibility of adding amendments to the U.S. Constitution through a convention of the states. Such a convention, as outlined in article five of the Constitution, would allow state legislatures to vote on amendments to add. Two-thirds of the state legislatures, or 34, must approve an application for a convention to occur, according to the Constitution’s article five. State legislatures would then send delegates to the convention, each state getting one vote on proposed amendments. For an amendment to pass and become a part of...

Yesterday, approximately 100 state legislators from over 30 states met at George Washington's home in Mount Vernon, VA. The meeting's purpose was to begin drafting the procedural rules for a Convention of States. I was not present at the gathering (only state legislators were allowed to attend), but earlier in the week I had a face to face conversation with the leadership of the Mount Vernon Assembly. We are beginning to reach critical mass in our efforts to use Article V of the Constitution to rein in the power of the federal government. The Mount Vernon Assembly is one of...

At a time when the federal government appears truly broken, state lawmakers have assembled to reclaim the power vested in the states by calling for a convention of the states as a means of creating constitutional amendments. On Saturday, close to 100 legislators from 32 states attended a meeting in Mount Vernon, Virginia, where they discussed adding amendments to the U.S. Constitution. They would do so under the authority of Article V of the Constitution.

As State Legislators, we have a solemn obligation to defend the rights of the people and protect the sovereign authority of our states, but the powers in Washington D.C. have made that almost impossible. Decades of out of control spending and a slow erosion of the balance of power between the states and the Federal government have all but destroyed the constitutional federalism that our founding fathers established. The drafters of our Constitution knew this could happen and so they gave us the tools to keep the genius of Federalism functioning, but we have to use those tools. The stronger...

There is a local connection to a national effort aimed at amending the U.S. Constitution through the convention process.. Amending the Constitution is not an easy task. It requires either a two-thirds vote by both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate; or, a national convention requested by two-thirds – 34 – of the 50 states. The Arizona Legislature adopted a resolution in 2012 calling for a nat, What do these lawmakers want to change? A website that lists all of the state legislators involved in the effort points to re-establishing federalism and limiting the growth of the federal...

South Carolina has pre-filed the COS application. In this video, Rep. Bill Taylor, the prime sponsor of the application, explains the need for a Convention of States.

The principles America was founded on have paved the way for the freedoms and privileges each citizen is thankful for today. At the heart of conservatism, is the recognition that many of these founding ideals are worth fighting to preserve. In the words of John Quincy Adams: "Posterity--you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." So in the spirit of preserving today’s blessings for tomorrow’s Americans, let’s take a look at ten things the Founding Fathers would be fighting against in the 21st century....