Posted on 02/20/2014 2:19:29 PM PST by cotton1706
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state House on Thursday passed a series of bills and resolutions aimed at calling for a national constitutional convention to rein in spending in Washington.
The House, largely along party lines, adopted House Bill 794, House Resolution 1215, Senate Bill 206 and Senate Resolution 371.
The U.S. Constitution allows for states to call for a convention to consider amendments. If two-thirds, or 34, states adopt similar resolutions, a convention is ordered. The proposals adopted Thursday call for a convention and outline how a potential Georgia delegation would be named.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
<>The Senate's slide to popular democracy unyoked states and the national government in a way that has left the states nearly powerless to defend their position as other legitimate representatives of the people. As the United States moved into the Twentieth Century, it was inevitable that Congress would aggressively exercise power over matters such as commerce and spending for the general welfare in ways that no constitutional prophet would have foreseen. The lack of foresight of the circumstances under which Congress would exercise its powers did not excuse our failure to maintain those constitutional structures that assure the tempered, essential use of such powers. When we loosed ourselves from the mast to answer the Sirens' call, we unleashed consequences only Circe could have foreseen.<>
I just keep asking myself ... “What the hell were they thinking?”
I think the subject of an Article V Convention of States draws the naysayers like a frigging magnet. What the hell else do we have? How else will States rights be restored? Sounds like Congress saying there is no use in fighting for anything because it won't pass anyway. Well we are all gonna die, so why live at all, right? Damn!
Exactly right.
It might not work, so why try?
... pull the blankets up over your head and pretend nothing is wrong?
please, do not use the terminology “constitutional convention”.
Title: (Georgia) House backs (Article V) Constitutional Convention (of States).
Allen West spoke in our town recently and referred to it as a Constitution Convention. He supports it. I stood up and made the point that we need to use the precise terminology. He thanked me for it.
Convention? Worst idea possible. It would be hijacked just like elections and used to destroy what little freedoms are left. The BOR and the Constitution would be gutted and Obama would be made king.
The amendments would still have to be ratified.
The BOR and the Constitution would be gutted and Obama would be made king.
Do you think that 38 States would ratify those sorts of changes?
If you do, then we are already lost.
If you do not, then why be against it?
What GOOD would a convention do?
The Constitution AS WRITTEN is MORE than
adequate. The problem is not what it says,
the problem is those in power do their best
to ignore and sidestep it. Anything we add they
don’t like would be ignored just as effectively
as the current contents and the convention would
give them the chance to do what they want to
do desperately....edit the Second Amendment or
repeal it altogether. Once that happens the great
gun confiscation begins. Large portions of society
currently don’t support disarmament because while
they don’t fully understand the true meaning of the
Amendment they know it exists and that we can’t be
totally disarmed. If the Second is amended or annulled
many millions of sheep would go “ I guess we can’t own
guns now, they all need to be turned in”. It would be the
wedge the tyrants need to finish the job.
Nothing good can come from a convention.....a LOT of
BAD things could happen though.
...aimed at calling for a national constitutional convention to rein in spending in Washington.[making it sound like a constitutional convention]Not surprising that reporters and editors don't understand this. They could have called someone who did, but I guess they don't know anyone like that....The U.S. Constitution allows for states to call for a convention to consider amendments.
It's both, since some of the latter was caused by the former. For example, the popular election of Senators should be repealed. And term limmits should be imposed on Congressmen, and arguably judges.
Mark Levin has proposed a long list of possible reforms.
No disrespect, but thanks for checking in chicken little...
A TERM LIMIT amendment ALONE would do lots of good. Followed closely by repeal of the 17th...
Washington won’t be able to ignore those. STATES control elections to the extent they will decide who’s on the ballot. So 10 term congressman StealUsBlind WON’T BE RUNNING for an 11th...
If you believe in the founders and THIS constitution, then you’ll understand how an Article V Convention was MEANT to be used...
THE FOUNDERS KNEW WE WOULD BE HERE... This is our LAST tool...
I fully agree; that said there's been so much precedent and normalization of contraconstitutional "law" that a staunch constitutionalist position could/would be perceived as anarchy. Heck, let's look at the single issue of the War on Drugs — criticism of which can easily label you as a "druggie" or "not-conservative" or such — this single policy is responsible for the degradation/erosion of 9 of the 10 amendments of the Bill of Rights:
Amendment 10 — Destroyed by combining “necessary and proper” with the intrastate/interstate regulation of Wickard.So I think that some Amending is needed to get things back
Amendment 9 — Everything. Seriously, EVERYTHING about the War on Drugs is about the federal government exercising powers not expressly delegated by the Constitution.
From Justice Thomas’s Dissent in Raich:“If the Federal Government can regulate growing a half-dozen cannabis plants for personal consumption (not because it is interstate commerce, but because it is inextricably bound up with interstate commerce), then Congress’ Article I powers – as expanded by the Necessary and Proper Clause – have no meaningful limits.”Amendment 8 — Mandatory minimums and zero tolerance combine to make the punishments outweigh many of the “crimes”, even is you accept the crime as valid.
Amendment 7 — In [civil] asset forfeiture, the victims are routinely denied jury-trials even though the amount in controversy exceeds $20.
Amendment 6 — The clogging of the courts with drug-related cases erodes the notion of a “speedy trial” to a joke. Often drug charges are added on to the list of crimes, which can “taint” the jury w/ prejudices. Often police act on informants whose identities are “protected”, which impairs the ability to confront the accuser.
Amendment 5 — How does “Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1984” comply with “No person shall [...] be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”?
Amendment 4 — Kentucky v King”The Fourth Amendment expressly imposes two requirements: All searches and seizures must be reasonable; and a warrant may not be issued unless probable cause is properly established and the scope of the authorized search is set out with particularity. [...] The proper test follows from the principle that permits warrantless searches: warrantless searches are allowed when the circumstances make it reasonable, within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment , to dispense with the warrant requirement.”In other words:Yes, the fourth amendment requires warrants for searches, but… fuck that!
Amendment 3 — [Nope, nothing here... yet.]
Amendment 2 — Arguably, the “prohibited persons” from the `68 GCA.
Amendment 1 — Religious freedom is denied via the war on drugs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_Division_v._Smith ), there are stories of “legalization”-advocacy publishers being raided/harassed.
on track— there are three places that really do need amendment off the top of my head:
| Tax Reform Amendment Section I No tax, federal or state, shall ever be withheld from the wages of a worker of any citizen of either. Section II No property shall be seized for failure to pay taxes until after conviction in a jury trial; the right of the jury to nullify (and thereby forgive) this debt shall never be questioned or denied. Section III The second amendment is hereby recognized as restricting the power of taxation, both federal and state, therefore no tax (or fine) shall be laid upon munitions or the sale thereof. Section IV The seventh amendment is also hereby recognized, and nothing in this amendment shall restrict the right of a citizen to seek civil redress. Section V No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever exceed 10%. Section VI No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever apply varying rates to those in its jurisdiction. Section VII No retroactive or ex post facto tax (or fee) shall ever be valid. Section VIII The congress may not delegate the creation of any tax or fine in any way. Section IX No federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent shall ever be exempt from any tax, fine, or fee by virtue of their position. Section X Any federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent applying, attempting to apply, or otherwise causing the application of an ex post facto or retroactive law shall, upon conviction, be evicted from office and all retirement benefits forfeit. |
Fiscal Responsibility Amendment Section I The power of Congress to regulate the value of the dollar is hereby repealed. Section II The value of the Dollar shall be one fifteen-hundredth avoirdupois ounce of gold of which impurities do not exceed one part per thousand. Section III To guard against Congress using its authority over weights and measures to bypass Section I, the ounce in Section II is approximately 28.3495 grams (SI). Section IV The Secretary of the Treasury shall annually report the gold physically in its possession; this report shall be publicly available. Section V The power of the Congress to assume debt is hereby restricted: the congress shall assume no debt that shall cause the total obligations of the United States to exceed one hundred ten percent of the amount last reported by the Secretary of the Treasury. Section VI Any government agent, officer, judge, justice, employee, representative, or congressman causing gold to be confiscated from a private citizen shall be tried for theft and upon conviction shall: a. be removed from office (and fired, if an employee), b. forfeit all pension and retirement benefits, c. pay all legal costs, and d. restore to the bereaved twice the amount in controversy. Section VII The federal government shall assume no obligation lacking funding, neither shall it lay such obligation on any of the several States, any subdivision thereof, or any place under the jurisdiction of the United States. All unfunded liabilities heretofore assumed by the United States are void. Section VIII The federal government shall make all payments to its employees or the several states in physical gold. Misappropriation, malfeasance and/or misfeasance of funds shall be considered confiscation. |
| Senate Reform Amendment Section I The seventeenth amendment is hereby repealed. Section II The several states may provide by law the means by which their senators may be removed or replaced. |
Commerce Clause Amendment Section I The federal government shall directly subsidize no product or industry whatsoever, saving the promotion the progress of Science and useful Arts. Section II The federal government shall never prescribe nor proscribe what the Several States teach. Neither the federal government nor the several states shall ever deny the right of parents to teach and instruct their children as they see fit. Section III The congress may impose tariffs, excise taxes, and customs duties on anything imported or exported, provided that they are applied uniformly and in no manner restrict, subvert, or circumvent the second amendment. Section IV No law may impose prohibitions of any sort on the commerce between the several states due to the item itself. |
I did not say “only bad”. But I fear the potential consequences of a new Convention far outweigh the benefit.
It is like opening Pandora’s box, you never know where that will lead.
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