State Lawmakers Assemble at Mount Vernon to Discuss a Constitutional Convention

TPNN ^ | 12/9/13 | Greg Campbell

[Baynative]

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.

[Baynative]

All attendees were required to pay their own travel expenses in an effort to limit the possibility of outside interests. The Mount Vernon assembly was hosted by Indiana state Sen. David Long and Wisconsin Rep. Chris Kapenga and the attendees discussed a wide variety of issues including amendments related to term limits and limits on federal taxation and spending.

Kapenga noted,

“States are not used to working toward a common goal. With the focus solely on defining how a Convention of the States, including an Article V Convention for Proposing Amendments, would function, we are learning how to work together.”

The assembly is a bold step towards increased state involvement in federal issues. However, the possibility of increased state involvement has begun rising in conservative circles as the tremendous dysfunction of the federal government has become entirely too-routine for many Americans to palate.

[Baynative]

Ping List

[cuban leaf]

Obama may truly turn out to be a sort of “anti-Lincoln”. That is, before Lincoln, states had more power than the Federal Government. It was the more mortar that held the bricks (states) together. But after the Civil war, the bricks were replaced with marbles and the extra space filled in with FedGov.

Obama seems to be turning us back, intentionally or not.

I suppose every cloud has a silver lining.

[Publius]

The one thing about this article that annoys me is the way one paragraph is written. It makes it sound as though an Amendments Convention has both Proposal and Ratification authority. It does not. It merely proposes. At the risk of being tiresome, I'll post some boilerplate I've written to clear up the matter.

***

The amendatory process under Article V consists of three steps: Proposal, Disposal, and Ratification.

Proposal:

There are two ways to propose an amendment to the Constitution.

• The Congressional Method requires the House and Senate to pass an amendment by a two-thirds majority.
• The Amendments Convention Method requires the legislatures of two-thirds of the states to petition Congress to call a Convention for Proposing Amendments. The states may request a single-subject convention or a general convention open to all subjects. Once the two-thirds threshold is reached, Congress is required to set a time and place for the convention.

Article V gives Congress and an Amendments Convention exactly the same power to propose amendments, no more and no less.

Disposal:

Once Congress, or an Amendments Convention, proposes amendments, Congress must decide whether the states will ratify by the:

• State Legislature Method, or the
• State Ratifying Convention Method.

The State Ratifying Convention Method has only been used twice: once to ratify the Constitution, and once to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition.

Ratification:

Depending upon which ratification method is chosen by Congress, either the state legislatures vote up-or-down on the proposed amendment, or the voters elect a state ratifying convention to vote up-or-down. If three-quarters of the states vote to ratify, the amendment becomes part of the Constitution.

[Allison_Wonderland]

Thank you, Mark Levin.

[drypowder]

for just about everything wrong in America today, look closely at why it began and more than likely you’ll see that greedy lawyers (oxymoron) are at the very heart of all of it. Lawyers should never be allowed to become politicians at any level.

[SpaceBar]

Way back in the mists of time when I was a newly minted freeper, I suggested that a law degree should be grounds for immediate disqualification for government employment.

[green iguana]

“Congress is required to set a time and place for the convention.”

Antarctica, Feb 29, 2124

Hey, at least it’ll be summer...

[Irenic]

I think state Sen. David Long is doing a fantastic job of organizing. Of course much thanks to Mark Levin and even some to Mike Church, Church had been pushing for a concon but this is better, I think. Thanks to all of them.

I keep thinking we need a cartoon of the Constitution on fire and a artcleV fire extingisher behind the—in case of emergency break glass.

[Da Bilge Troll]

Awesome!!!

[C210N]

Antarctica, Feb 29, 2124...

Congress could try that, but then the states would be within their right to just call one a bit earlier. They would just be applying the Cosby Principle: "We brought you into this world... and we, damn it, can Take You OUT!"

[yoe]

It would seem their plate is full....
...while Rome burns....

The Marxist Trio...

[Jacquerie]

Article V Ping!

[Revolting cat!]

I wish Ron Wood would just concentrate on playing his gittar and get out of politics!

[trisham]

LOL!

[a fool in paradise]

Constitutional Convention? Are the Federal courts all closed or somethin’???

[bestintxas]

the magic number is 38.

That is the # of states which are required to change the Constitution.

With 38 states, ANYTHING can be achieved, such as removal of all of congress, the President, even the Supreme Court.

That is the ultimate power in this country.

[justiceseeker93]

The assembly is sure to irk many on the left who view challenges to the federal government’s authority as a rightwing quest to destabilize the federal government. With Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid routinely calling Tea Partiers “anarchists” for advocating modest limits on federal authority, the bold move by state lawmakers is sure to rile liberals who believe the solution to innumerable national problems can be solved by a bigger, stronger federal government.

You can bet that the left will be attacking the Article V movement as viciously as they have been attacking "Birthers" for the last five years. The first step will be to try to marginalize the supporters of the petition fro a convention of the states for a constitutional convention by questioning their sanity. The "Daily Kos" has already begun the assault.

Attracting flack from leftist quarters implies that the movement is making progress. Hopefully this is just the beginning of something big!

[Logical me]

Without all the feeling it will not work the effort proves that many States object to the power the Federal Government has over them. It is the effort to show that the displeasure is growing and maybe some Americans are beginning to see the light. We have been closer to a communists form of Federal Government then ever before and the communists are still growing in power.

[DiogenesLamp]

Attracting flack from leftist quarters implies that the movement is making progress. Hopefully this is just the beginning of something big!

It is my opinion that an article V convention would be a fiasco. We should hope to God that such a thing is never convened, for it will only make things worse.

It is simply not reasonable to believe that Modern Americans will demonstrate more competence than did those who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787.

An Article V convention will put in charge the same sort of people who elected Obama. The very idea should be dreaded and feared.

If we can't even win an election for President, what sort of influence do you expect conservatives to have in an article V convention?