Free Republic

The Texas Senate, by a 20-11 vote, agreed Tuesday to a call for a Convention of States to consider amendments to the U.S. Constitution to rein in federal power and set federal term limits. The Senate also agreed to impose a state jail penalty on a legislator who violates his or her oath as a delegate to a potential national Convention of States, a measure intended to allay concerns about a runaway convention that might seek to amend the Constitution in ways not intended by the Legislature. Under Article V of the Constitution, two-thirds of the states can call for...

AUSTIN – Texas moved a big step closer on Wednesday toward asking Congress to call a “convention of states” aimed at rolling back the reach of the federal government and perhaps even overhauling the U.S. Constitution. “The federal government has treated the states as nothing more than a subcontractor to implement federal will,” said state Sen. Brian Birdwell, a Granbury Republican who shepherded two pieces of legislation necessary for Texas’ participation in a convention.

The State Senate of Tennessee has laid the legislative groundwork for something that hasn't been done in the United States of America since the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia. With a vote of 27-3, the Tennessee Senate has voted to call a "convention of the states" in order to draft and pass an amendment to the Constitution that would require balanced budgets to be passed every year. For those who are little fuzzy on their high school U.S. history knowledge, the Tennessean explains that the U.S. Constitution can be amended in two ways. The first would require a two-thirds...

Early last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott delivered the keynote address to the Texas Public Policy Foundation. My heart skipped a beat when I read the title to his press release, Governor Abbott Unveils Texas Plan, Offers Constitutional Amendments to Restore the Rule of Law. Take a moment to click the link and scan the highlights. Now, when the governor of the second largest state in the Union, “gets it,” all of us in the COS movement should applaud. Few can match the combined political and professional resume’ of Greg Abbot. He was a Texas trial judge, an adjunct professor...

One of Gov. Greg Abbott’s emergency items moved one step further Thursday when a Senate committee recommended a resolution that would back a convention of states. The Senate State Affairs Committee approved Senate Joint Resolution 2, by state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, which calls for a national convention that would allow states to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution — an action that could only happen with a two-thirds majority, or 34 states, signing onto the idea.

The John Birch Society (JBS) can thank itself for this post. A few days ago, the JBS unintentionally put a smile on my face when I attempted to comment on a column at their website. See the saved screenshot below. In response to a piece at The New American (TNA), Wyoming and Arkansas Reject Call for Convention of States Con-Con, I was prevented from posting to the comment section. Since it never went to moderation, the content of my comment was irrelevant. I wondered, how many other COS supporters are banned as well? Hmmm, maybe Mark Meckler, Michael Farris, and...

There’s a tendency among 21st century patriots to assume the foundation of republican free government, conventions of the sovereign people, was known from the moment of independence in 1776. While the essential purpose (security of rights) of any government, expressed so eloquently by Thomas Jefferson, was widely accepted, the actual process to arrive at such government remained elusive. How were thirteen distinct societies to go about replacing their previous monarchal régimes? Let’s look at one, Virginia. Virginia’s Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, dissolved the House of Burgesses when it passed a resolution on June 1st 1774 declaring a day of fasting...

The Utah House called Friday for a convention of the states to consider new amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which supporters said is the only way to rein in an out-of-control federal government. It passed HJR3 on a 45-29 vote, and sent it to the Senate for consideration. The resolution calls for a convention that would consider amendments to "impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress." "We are in jeopardy of losing our republic," said HJR3's sponsor,...

By an eyelash, portions of my community avoided a ban on housecats. I am not kidding. Last Saturday, my wife and I attended a meeting of county commissioners, civic groups, and the public. Its purpose was to explain an upcoming US Fish & Wildlife (USFW) approved regulation regarding protection of . . . a mouse. That’s right, the St. Andrews Beach Mouse. Government biologists couldn’t find one in rural Gulf County Florida, but our sand dunes and climate are perfect, they say, for the little critters. Habitat protection for a never-seen rodent will cost the average homebuilder at least several...

Amidst the manufactured angst over President Trump’s enforcement of immigration law, I recalled a few passages from Locke in America, by Jerome Huyler. As opposed to today’s social justice nonsense, which demands the acceptance of any and all foreigners, including barbarians intent on our destruction, immigrants to our shores in the latter-18th century had different aspirations. From Huyler: No sooner does a European arrive, no matter of what condition, than his eyes are opened upon the fair prospects . . . Has he any particular talent or industry? He exerts it in order to procure a livelihood, and it succeeds....

Subtitle: The Federalist No. 40 Recall from the Introduction to this series, Brent Dunklau, COS District Captain (HD 33 Texas), noted James Madison' seemingly contradictory stances in The Federalist No. 40. Is the Constitution an amended version of the Articles of Confederation (AC) or is it an unauthorized and radical departure? Brent regularly encounters this question, and it is one which Article V opponents use to delegitimize the Constitution. James Madison opened No. 40 with a quick reference to No. 39, in which he distinguishes between national and federal systems. A national system is democratic. A majority of the people...

Subtitle: Passing the Torch. Remarkably, despite the enormous pressure to disclose the goings on of the federal convention, its delegates managed to keep very close to their oaths of secrecy. In a cost-saving move, several states simply recommissioned their congressional delegates to attend the convention. With so many in Philadelphia, congress, which was in New York, rarely had a quorum to conduct business during the summer of 1787. Edward Carrington of Virginia feared too few of his fellow delegates would return to New York and there wouldn’t be a congress to receive the report of the convention! The president of...

Subtitle: The New Jersey Plan.In this post, we’ll see why continuance under the Articles of Confederation (AC) was certain to destroy the Union. The commissions for delegates to the convention were, at most, slight variations of the wording of the report from the 1786 Annapolis convention, “to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union.” It is on this clause that Article V opponents hang their collective hats. To them, entire state delegations intentionally disregarded their instructions to strictly stand by improvements to...

As Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington knew like no other man of the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation (AC). From the despair at Valley Forge in 1777-78, and a congressional recommendation that he plunder the Pennsylvania countryside for supplies, George Washington and his men felt the full measure of inadequate government. On March 15th 1783, Washington prevented a mutiny of his army encamped at Newburgh NY that would have changed the course of American history. The Revolutionary War did not end with victory at Yorktown; British troops still held New York, Charleston, Savannah, and western outposts. Ironically,...

Without a formal league until just a few months before the climactic battle of Yorktown in October 1781, the fledgling independent republics of the Revolutionary War somehow managed to frustrate the most powerful nation on earth. On March 1st, Maryland, under threat of invasion by General Cornwallis, joined twelve other states in confederation. As Maryland illustrated, the first purpose of the confederation was common defense from the English Army and Royal Navy. The Articles of Confederation (AC) formalized the powers of a pre-existing congress of the states. With one vote each, Rhode Island had as much influence as Virginia. Congress...

Subtitle: The Question of Sovereignty. Didn’t the Framers violate the Articles of Confederation (AC) when they drafted the Constitution? Weren’t the AC the supreme law of the land? This is the view of many Article V opponents. From Article VI of the confederation, “No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation or alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the united States in congress assembled . . . “ Furthermore, from Article XIII, “Every State shall abide by the determination of the united States in congress assembled, on all questions which by this confederation are submitted...

“Why just do what you can overdo?” is an insider joke in my family when one of us unnecessarily complicates an otherwise simple task. Over the next few posts, I’ll look at the Articles of Confederation. Brent Dunklau, Convention of States District Captain, (HD 33 Texas) provided the spark for this series. Like many in the COS movement, he has encountered pushback from Article V opponents who fear an Article V convention will replace the Constitution, just as the events of 1787-1788 replaced the Articles of Confederation (AC) with the Constitution. To opponents, these events were like a hostile takeover,...

Subtitle: The Road to Philadelphia. Most narratives on the events leading to the federal convention in Philadelphia begin with the Mount Vernon meeting of 1785, in which delegates from Virginia and Maryland discussed various issues involving commerce along their common border, the Potomac River. Other narratives, like those from Article V opponents, start with the congressional call to convention in February 1787. Both neglect earlier attempts to correct the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation (AC). In previous posts to this series, we learned that congressionally proposed amendments to the still-to-be-ratified AC regarding nationwide taxation and regulation of commerce went...

As opposed to corruption of the US Senate, I’ve paid little attention over the course of this blog to the House of Representatives. The House isn’t involved with high profile treaties or appointments, and is far too infrequently involved with impeachments. Aside from hoping it doesn’t fall into democratic hands, it’s just sort of “there.” We dutifully vote every two years for the congressman of our choice, and that seems to be that. While few today give much thought to the topic of representation, it was high on the list of concerns during the Framing era. At the federal convention,...

A Letter from a Convention of States Volunteer. The election has brought lots of thought and opinions to me. Even the need to exhale after holding my breath for a long time. The need to see and have a change in my country has overtaken me in the last year. The thought as to what kind of country I would pass along to my grandchildren has been at the foremost part of my mind for a long time. Trump’s election to the presidency put a lot of Americans at ease, even the feeling of relief and there seem to me...