Posted on 12/11/2013 5:43:15 PM PST by dontreadthis
Good news from the Sunshine State! Florida State Senator Alan Hays (R-Umatilla) filed SM 476 on Friday petitioning Congress to call an Article V Convention of States.
Senator Hays stated, “Everywhere I go, people ask me what can be done to reform Washington, D.C. This petition to Congress to convene the Article V convention is the first step toward that reform. This ‘runaway’ Federal government is of great concern to Americans of all political parties and of all the states.”
In filing the legislation, Senator Hays continued, “In their wisdom, our Founders knew the Federal Government might one day become too large and too powerful, so they specifically inserted a mechanism that gives states a lawful and orderly instrument to restrain a runaway federal government; it’s Article V, Section 2 of the Constitution.”
So far, Florida, Virginia, and South Carolina have officially pre-filed our application in their state legislature. We have many more representatives interested in sponsoring our application, so be looking for your state as we announce more pre-filings in the next few weeks!
These are huge steps towards calling a Convention of States, and we’re taking them right on schedule!
from the Forbes article:
The great jurist Learned Hand, in 1944, gave a brief, immortal speech, The Spirit of Liberty, before a million and a half people in Central Park, New York, on “I Am an American Day.” Hand observed:
“ I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do
much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it.”
Judge Hand is a figure esteemed as much by the left as by the right. Saul Alinsky cites Hand in Rules for Radicals. An Article V amendment process is a function of citizen dignity — ‘power to the people.” It leans neither left nor
right. It is federalism at its finest. It has, and will have, humanitarian populist proponents (and, also, not-always-so-populist opponents) on the left as well
as the right.
Gillette would be a great place.
I agree with the sentiment. However, the people never had 100% virtue, don’t have it now, and never will. Indeed, only about 33% of the 3,000,000 Americans around the 1770’s and 1780’s were interested in Liberty. Would guess that no more than 33% today are interested in it as well. But, those that do care need the tools to defend it... and Constitutions, laws and courts will have to do for now.
stupid idea, enforce the Constitution as written.
Vote the RINOs out of office!
That's what I wanted to hear...
exactly, and like you say, the 33% figure is what founded the country, so there is no shame or hesitation that it should be 33% who restore it.
Amen
Thanks for the confirmation. I feel much better now.
See what you started at FR?
The first thing they would remove is the 2nd Amendment!
Yes, repeal the progrssive amendments that were passed by the Progressives in the 1920 period, the 16th and 17th, income taxes and direct election of senators.
That was my first reaction, but I have since eliminated my fears.
If you have the time, read this:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/126641416/Article-V-Handbook
(see Section Y: The Myth of a Runaway Convention)
Bottom line: it takes 38 States to ratify an Amendment
Pass all the Amendments you want, but if you then expect the likes of Reid, Pelosi, McConnell, Boehner, Obama, the Supreme Court, & thousands of other self serving politicians to all of a sudden start adhering to the Constitution, you are delusional.
Short of a world war, revolution, or national disaster, I don't believe the US voter will EVER cast out the corruption, replacing it with patriots, & neither crisis guarantees a that outcome.
I'm with the group that feels this is likely to go very badly against us and the BOR will be trimmed down to support 'common sense' gun control, speech control and religion control.
The sad facts are that Conservatives do not constitute 2/3 of the people or 2/3 of the States or 3/4 of the States, so the basis of "using super-majorities to change the Constitution" isn't really operative.
Why are people thinking this will work? We can't even wit the White House against an utterly incompetent fool, we can't win a simple majority in the Senate, but somehow we are going to rack up 3/4 of the state legislatures to modify the Constitution.
Mark Levin is a great talk show host, and I love his dedication to the Constitution but I just don't see this happening.
These guys all get to a certain point and what to DRIVE the movement they have been reporting on. Beck did so with his 9/12 project, which did a lot to confuse the Tea Party movement and fractionalize it. (Really, lack of reverence for MLK is not a huge problem that Conservatives need to be rallying on the mall for. The original focus was "taxed enough already" was far more inclusive and powerful.)
But I still appreciate his hard work and his books and his sincerity.
Be careful of the Second Amendment here, people.
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