We the People
Today is Constitution Day! I wanted to give you someting specific to think about. Here is a post on an Article V convention (called by the states) to curb the power and errant ways of the federal government from a few weeks ago. I’ve added an article from Nick Dranias at the Goldwater Institute and links to their work on Article V. And I’ve added a great article by the champion of the 9th and 10th amendments, Randy Barnet, on a “Repeal Amendment” being introduced in Virginia. What if the states could repeal federal legislation? Should we join the great state of Virginia and call for this in Minnesota?
Everyone knows that the founders gave us three “co-equal branches” of government and carefully crafted ”checks and balances.” It has not worked perfectly but the founders anticipated that problem. Article V of the U.S. Constitution permits Congress to amend the Constitution–this is widely known. What is not widely known is that state legislatures can also petition Congress for a convention; two thirds (34) of the states are required. Any amendment passed at the convention has to be ratified by three fourths (38) of the states. An Article V convention has never been called. Is it time?
The Constitution has been amended 27 times. The first 10 amendments are the Bill of Rights; they were ratified in 1791 a few years after the Constitution was ratified. Interestingly, the twenty-seventh amendment was part of the proposed Bill of Rights in 1789 but it was not ratified until 1992 by the vote of Michigan. It contains a common concept of “good government” today; that pay raises for Congress cannot take effect until after an intervening election.
There is a growing movement to call an Article V Convention. There is always fear of a “run away” convention, though the requirements of Article V to both call a convention (two thirds rule) and to ratify an amendment (three quarters rule) would seem to make that unlikely.
Clearly, we have a “run away” federal government. The founders gave the states a tool to address weaknesses in the Constitution and abuses by the federal government. We will be exploring this option from time to time here at the Minnesota Free Market Institute.
Former Senator Norm Coleman has decided that it is time for an Article V convention. Here are his most recent remarks on the subject. http://americanactionnetwork.org/news/aans-ceo-norm-colemans-remarks-alec-conference
Here is a link to the Goldwater Institute’s Nick Dranias on Article V conventions: http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article/5008
Here is the Wall Street Journal’s article calling for a “Repeal Amendment.” The authors are Randy Barnett, who has championed the 9th and 10th amendment for decades and William Howell, the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delgates. The Repeal Amendment would give states the power to repeal legislation passed by Congress. They published this in the Wall Street Journal yesterday and plan to introduce the amendment to Virginia this January: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703466704575489572655964574.html
Convention USA is an interactive, virtual Article V convention on the Internet at http://www.conventionusa.org. Any citizen can register as a delegate. We have 20 States represented so far and will convene officially when 34 States are participating. We need delegates from Minnesota. We would welcome your participation, and suggest that former Senator Norm Coleman would make an excellent Captain for the Minnesota Caucus.
You can read the applications and learn all about an Article V Convention at http://www.foavc.org. The states have submitted over 700 applications for a convention call. Learn about this important process at FOAVC.
Real patriots who love and respect the US Constitution must support using the Article V convention option; learn all the facts at foavc.org and join at no cost our national nonpartisan group.
The problem with the amendment to allow two-thirds of the States to rescind a specific federal law or regulation is that it is retail when the problem is wholesale. We need to redress the underlying distortions of the Constitution which have allowed the federal government to usurp the States’ original constitutional powers, not nitpick at separate individual usurpations.
Also, there is a problem with using an Article V convention to initiate federalism amendments. Such a convention would be dominated by politicians and law professors, not constitutional conservatives, and would be as likely to move us away from the original constitutional structure as towards it.
The best solution is an “amendment amendment” which gives the States the ability to initiate constitutional amendments without a convention. Article V only uses a convention mechanism because in 1789 there was no other practical way for States to communicate with each other to formulate amendment proposals. In this way, grassroots constitutionalists could initiate amendments carefully drafted to achieve the restoration of the original constitutional structure, thus dealing with the underlying “wholesale” problem of the unconstitutional expansion of the national government.
See http://www.timelyrenewed.com for more specifics on this proposal.
Please read “The Next American Revolution: How to Demand Congressional Reform NOW.” The book proposes a revolutionary effort in bringing about an Article V convention specifically to force congressional reforms. It suggests the convention consider three amendment proposals: the 28th for term limits; the 29th for simple, but effective campaign finance reform; and, the 30th Amendment to alter the way congressional districts are drawn (to eliminate gerrymandering) and prohibiting favoritism toward any political party (to end monopolistic ballot access restrictions). This will knock the legs out from the corrupted congressional electoral system. This system is the heart of the probem with Congress, and will restore the citizen’s legislature we had for the first 150 years.