Posted on 04/25/2017 1:34:26 AM PDT by Jacquerie
You can tell a lot about a man by his enemies, and I’d say the same thing is true about an organization.
The Convention of States Project is using Article V of the Constitution to save the Constitution, because our Founders predicted the federal government might grow so large, corrupt, and unwieldy that it would never voluntarily restrain itself. They realized the citizens would need to reel it all back, so they gave us a tool in Article V to do just that. Though we are just a grassroots organization, we are animated by the spirit of our founders – a patriotism unwilling to let this nation be ruined by a bunch of incompetent, unelected bureaucrats. To call a Convention of States, we need 34 states to pass an application. Ten already have already passed the application.
That’s enough to cause some organizations to self-identify as our enemies. Two hundred and thirty of them, to be precise, have organized to oppose a Convention of States including: Common Cause, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Daily Kos, Greenpeace USA, NAACP, National Council of La Raza Action Fund, Sierra Club, People For the American Way, Democracy 21, large national unions like the Service Employees International Unionand the AFL-CIO, Emily's List, and Planned Parenthood. The groups are the most left-wing groups you can find, dedicated to Marxism, fascism, radical environmentalism, and abortion-on-demand. It’s actually quite flattering that we’ve gotten them to do what Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders couldn’t: unify with one voice.
They know the stakes. As much as the election of Donald Trump grieved half this nation, the left knows his ascension to the Oval Office is temporary. There’s nothing he’s doing right now that can’t be undone in the next couple of elections. (The only possible exception to that is his Supreme Court selections, but even the Supreme Court is mired in the politics that determine which cases are actually heard.) The Left is uniting against us because they know we’re about to make permanent, structural change. They find the idea of us fixing the problems they’ve spent over a hundred years creating as more horrifying than President Trump, more horrifying than an Obamacare repeal, and more horrifying than a Republican appointed Supreme Court pick.
You can tell by their lies they’re desperate. They describe what’s going on in the most inaccurate, fear-inducing ways possible. Mark Levin, who popularly introduced the Article V convention to the nation in his best selling book “The Liberty Amendments,” said, “They are purposefully lying or they are utterly contemptible or illiterate when it comes to our Constitutional system.” Perhaps, Mark needs to embrace the healing power of “both/and.”
“These powerful, heavily funded organizations have awakened,” Levin continued. “We are truly the David versus their Goliath.” I guess that’s a pretty accurate analogy. Once the Convention of States aims the power of the people at the regulatory state, it’ll be as permanent a change as what old Goliath experienced… and no election in the world will be able to bring it back from the dead.
Mark Meckler is the founder of the Convention of States Project.
<>Did those delegates conduct themselves within the bounds of their commissions?
Yes.
Did the Articles of Confederation require that any changes to those Articles be approved by a unanimous vote of the States? Did Article VII of the proposed Constitution change the process of ratification from the Articles by 1) providing for ratification of the Constitution by popularly elected ratifying conventions in each State as opposed to the legislatures of the several States, 2) making it possible that judges, ministers and others ineligible to serve in state legislatures be elected to these ratifying conventions, and 3) allowing the proposed Constitution to be ratified with the approval of only nine of the several States?
Given that all of these are true, I submit that the delegates did not conduct themselves within the bounds of their commissions. I see no reason to believe that modern delegates would conduct themselves within the limited commissions you believe you could bind them with when the only occurrence of such a convention in American history led to a run-away convention.
Also, why do you not address the question of why the illegally/unconstitutionally acting federal government will follow your new Amendments to the Constitution when it blatantly ignores the existing rules within the Constitution? What compels the federal government to obey your proposed Amendments?
James R. McClure Jr.
Jeffersonian Anti-Federalist Democrat
I started ArticleVBlog.com so I wouldn’t have to endlessly repeat myself in answers to the same old questions.
If you don’t wish to educate yourself, that is up to you.
If you don’t wish to educate yourself, that is up to you.
Ad hominem. Thank you for that. QED.
I have visited your site. The amount of hand-waving and "trust us, it will work" doesn't convince Me and doesn't address the primary problem of: the federal government doesn't obey the current Constitution and Amendments, how do your Amendments compel obedience, given the blatant disregard of the Constitution which all three branches show? Your argument reminds Me of gun control advocates who claim that the solution to criminals breaking existing laws is more laws, when, by definition, criminals don't obey laws.
James R. McClure Jr.
Jeffersonian Anti-Federalist Democrat
“Delegates will conduct themselves within the bounds of their commissions.”
Or so some would like to believe ... nice theory. Bad Idea.
And so then, just how would you propose to take our nation back from the elites that inhabit DC?
Three or more confuses people and you will make no sale.
The unified idealism of our founders no longer exists ... at least not in practice ... and a COS may indeed be only a means of proffering amendments, but I DO foresee a hodgepodge of mentalities, not necessarily aligned with each other, coming away with amendments (plural) and not only the repeal of 16 and 17.
I'm on a school board and there is in SOME districts what we call an "agenda meeting" which is a separate meeting to determine what goes on the agenda and the existing items are discussed before the public School Board meeting ... usually a week in advance.
MY school district vehemently opposes the adoption of an agenda meeting because (IMO) they (the commies ON the board and the ones in the administration) LOVE the idea and fact that they can spring stuff on us and we're forced to vote up or down with very little thinking and NO public input ... the vote has to happen tonight.
I know enough about people in power positions that ... you're right ... I don't trust them.
We live in an electronic age where both the library and the post office are obsolete ....
FreeRepublic is the most mental gymnastics I engage in ... everything else is an argument or I just walk away from a stubborn opinion.
Well said.
Awesome as usual Jaquerie!
We go to the Texas House on May 3. God willing I will be present. Two weeks ago I was part of 8+ hours testimony before a House committee. We saw the evidence during that testimony of Soros funded, bused-in, people fighting Article V in Texas.
There has now been an amendment attached to our original Article v legislation which negates the bill. We will be appearing en masse to get the bill fixed (have the amendment amended) and have this passed by Texas.
I thank you for all you do that assists in this endeavor.
Passage of the COS petition by TX would be AWESOME. Do legislators know Soros is behind the Astroturf opposition? What is their most common objection? Runaway convention?
I don’t understand how politicians, whose election to office depends on the people, could conclude the people should not have access to their governing compact.
Godspeed to pulling that amendment!
“Do legislators know Soros is behind the Astroturf opposition? What is their most common objection? Runaway convention?”
Yes sir, we were able to bring Soros backing into our testimony before the House Committee on State and Federal Power and Responsibility. There were some of our COS folks who had obtained clear evidence of that.
Yes, runaway convention probably rates as the first objection to A5. It’s pitiful listening to the fear mongering. I appreciate you, Publius, Art in Idaho, Hostage, Nathan Bedford and some I’m forgetting for making the case for Article V here REPEATEDLY. I get aggravated with fearful responses to A5 and you guys do a good job of countering fear in the FR posts. For some reason it’s much easier for me to make the arguments verbally, in person. I present the same facts, but conversationally I seem to find it easier to make folks understand.
The various forms of runaway convention given in Legislative testimony are exactly what we see from uninformed freepers.
1) Omg the rats will take over (despite the inate difficulty in even getting amendments passed i.e. 13 State House fails)(and the overwhelming number of state houses we have now)
2) The Constitution will be re-written completely (forgetting Article V of our blessed Constitution is what we’re attempting to utilize)
3)The delegates will be out of control and will pass who knows what new laws (because of course all the states would pass just anything, right?)
4) Delegates will be equal to the career politicians we already have in D.C. (for my conversations, this has opened up great dialogue on repeal of the 17th also. The difference between our state choosing representatives and the “swamp” we have with 2 popularly elected houses.
So you see, it’s the same old arguments. As a lifelong hobby student of government and history I will rejoice when we can prove once again the genius of the men who crafted our Constitution. It took courage, tenacity, perserverance and work to implement our government. We need to put on our grown-up panties, decide to embrace the courage to USE Article V of the very Constitution everyone claims they want to be keeping.
To Publius, ArtinIdaho, NathanBedford: Ping to #33.
To Wneighbor, thank you. In response to those who charge that no one today can equal the brilliance of our Framers, I say there is no need to make the attempt. From the Framers, we KNOW first principles, we know what works to keep free-government. The first lesson of representative government is a bicameral legislature derived from distinct sources.
The only reason we don’t have annual elections to the House of Reps is the difficulty of 18th century travel. A saying of the day went something like, “Where annual elections end, tyranny begins.” To elect at-large, statewide politicians to six year terms is democratic, but subversive of free government.
The Left has poisoned many minds into believing that democracy, the democratic element, is the purpose of government, rather than being a portion of the means to keep government to its purposes itemized in the Preamble to our Constitution.
Our Framers wisely limited popular election to one half of Congress. Since there’s no need to reinvent anything, the reincarnation of Madison isn’t necessary. The 17A was a mistake. Let’s admit it, repeal it and press on.
http://articlevblog.com/2015/09/article-v-blog/ [Free government]
http://articlevblog.com/2016/08/more-democracy-less-liberty/
One more talking point. Have you appealed to the politician’s natural desire for power?
Repeal of the 17A is the empowerment of fifty state legislatures and thousands of state legislators.
Imagine federal senators checking in with their state Speaker of the House and Majority Leader of the Senate to get their take on pending national legislation, presidential appointments, etc. Unlike the people, state legislators will keep a close and accurate score on their senators. No longer will anti-9th and 10th Amendment lawyers have a shot at the federal bench. The list goes on.
For those who think the Article V process is too risky, I ask, "What other options do you see?"
To summarize from a previous post by GraceG:
1. Elect More Republicans - Failed due to RINO/Uni-party confluence.
2. Article V Convention of States to propose Amendments - Needed to try to take power from the federal government back to the states and reel in the federal leviathan.
3. State Nullification - Last ditch effort to try to take power back from the federal monster, though by this point it may be too late.
4. State Secession - Could either end up peaceably like the breakup of the Czechoslovakia in 1993 or a brutal:
5. Civil War II like the first one.... The longer we wait on #2, the more likely #3, then #4 and finally #5. .
So, do we do nothing and just wait for # 5?
Quick review: We need 34 states to pass an application, then Congress shall, by law, call a Convention of States as soon as it receives applications from 2/3 of the State Legislatures. That's 34 states. As of right now, there are 10 states that have applied using the Georgia language: AL, AK, AZ, FL, GA, IN, LA, ND, OK, TN. 10 down, 24 to go.
So far, 36 state legislative chambers or bodies have filed or passed resolutions. Amendments are proposed and voted on at the convention. Each Amendment must be ratified by 3/4 of the states in order to become part of the US Constitution. That's 38 states.
There are multiple arguments against a COS. Do not be dissuaded. In reality, there are so many checks and balances against a runaway convention that the risk is near zero. As nathanbedford said, “It requires only 13 statehouse legislatures from 13 different states out of 99 legislatures in 50 states to block an amendment. The problem is not a runaway convention, the problem is getting any amendment through."
"There are far more political and legal constraints on a runaway convention than on a runaway Congress." - Robert Natelson
Most FReepers are aware of these links, but I post anyway for review and for people new to Article V. It is our responsibility to make Article V the most understood aspect of the US Constitution.
****Please see this summary video from Alabama first: Convention of States - Alabama Way to go Alabama! A great introduction!
***Another good introduction video Convention of States: The Plan to Restore America
Utah Rep. Nelson: The Constitution Hangs in the Balance A good five minute review
Utah's Merrill Nelson: The only way to check federal power is with the power of the states
***For the Young People Overview of the COS Project at Washington Freedom Summit Laura Fennig, a COS Grassroots Coordinator, describes the COS Project plan and how you can get involved!
Rep. Bill Taylor introduces a Convention of States
Convention of States Live! with Mike Farris
The Case for an Article V Convention. Great explanation of an Article V convention to the Massachusetts State Legislature.
**** Convention of States Lots of information here.
**** Article V Blog by Jacquerie. Excellent and worth following.
**** Mark Levin, Constitution Article V, and the Liberty Amendments A great overview of Article V.
Learn about the Convention of States The Problem, the Solution and the Strategy
Can We Trust the Constitution? Answering The “Runaway Convention” Myth For those who are worried about a runaway convention.
A Convention of States - Part 1 Answering the "They're not following it now" Argument
A Convention of States - Part 2 Answering the "Runaway Convention" and other Arguments
Exposed: George Soros launches campaign against Convention of States If Soros opposes Article V, it must be a great idea!
The Convention of States Article V Application
Missouri state senator delivers amazing testimony (video) Reasoned speech on why we need an Article V Convention.
Article V Project to Restore Liberty Another good source.
Mark Levin’s Liberty Amendments: Introduction
Mark Levin’s Liberty Amendments: The Federalist I
Mark Levin’s Liberty Amendments: The Federalist II
Mark Levin’s Liberty Amendments: Part IV
Cultural Marxism and the need for an Article V COS by Hostage
Convention of States model Resolution
A Summary of Mark Levin’s Proposed Amendments by Jacquerie
Chapter 1 of Mark Levin’s Book, The Liberty Amendments
Mark Levin, Constitution Article V, and the Liberty Amendments
Mark Levin: "The Liberty Amendments" - Complete Sean Hannity Special + other Links
List of Mark Levin You Tube Videos
Citizens for Self-Governance: Convention of States Project Youtube hub - Lots of educational videos here
Mark Levin Article V, Liberty Amendments youtube video hub
Three hour video of C-Span interview with Mark Levin
*** Mark Levin's ALEC Speech, Dec 4, 2014
Gaining Steam? Nearly 100 Lawmakers Descend on Mount Vernon to Talk Convention of States The beginning.
Curing Federal Dysfunction by Constitutional Amendment: A Primer Professor Rob Natelson
Our American Constitution, Article V Rob Natelson's Article V articles
We can fight the uniparty! States, the Natural Second Party by Jacquerie
Convention to Propose Amendments to the United States Constitution
The Other Way to Amend the Constitution: The Article V Constitutional Convention Amendment Process
Friends of Article V Convention Links
The Indiana Statute that will Govern their Delegates
Congress' Present Duty to Call a Convention:
Congress' Present Duty to Call a Convention. (Part I)
Congress' Present Duty to Call a convention. (Part II)
Congress' Present Duty to Call a Convention. (Part III)
Congress' Present Duty to Call a Convention. (Part IV)
Congress' Present Duty to Call a Convention. (Part V)
Congress' Failure to Call an Amendments Convention. (Part VI)
The 17th Amendment – A Mistake That Keeps on Giving
Ulysses at the Mast: Democracy, Federalism, and the Sirens' Song of the Seventeenth Amendment by Jay Bybee. Repeal the 17th! Shorter Abstract here: Ulysses at the Mast, one page Abstract
****For those of you that still have doubts about the Article V process, please review: Responses To Convention Of States Opposition My initial concerns were resolved after reading these articles. My attitude now is Go For It!
Sarah Palin: Debunking the myths of a Convention of States
A Single-Subject Convention Addresses the "runaway convention" fear.
John Birch Society Denies Its History and Betrays Its Mission The original Birchers were for an Article V Convention.
Publius Huldah vs. Article V: Introduction by Rodney Dodsworth
Update: Convention of States by the numbers The current State count
Convention of States Gaining Momentum
Assembly of State Legislatures – Article V
***Indiana Statute - Duties of Article V Convention Delegates A good example for other states and one of the safeguards.
****Proposing Constitutional Amendments by a Convention of States - An Article V Handbook for State Legislators An important resource.
****State Initiation of Constitutional Amendments: A Guide for Lawyers and Legislative Drafters The Bible on Convention of States
**** State Legislators Article V Caucus State Legislators, Join up at this site!
Most State Legislatures are in session now. Send this list of links to your State Representatives and Senators here: Contact your State Legislators.
Sample Letter to state Representatives regarding the Convention of States Project and also, Talking Points.
Excellent Article V Letter to a State Assemblyman by Jacquerie
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke.
Let’s all work together to get this going!
Art in Idaho, the online index to A5!
I’ve been pleased with reactions from Representatives from both houses of Congress here when I’ve mentioned repeal of the 17th. Most of those guys are actually having to sacrifice some home, family, work and possibly personal recreation to serve at the state level. Granted we live in a hard core conservative stronghold and I think that makes a difference in representation as service. But many of the men and women in Austin who have listened immediately understand the value of repealing the 17th. They seem as disgusted with the lack of state representation as we are. At the same time we’ve got our governor on board pushing for teeth for A 9 & 10 also. I think Governor Abbott has created an atmosphere welcoming all we stand for with COS. He insists this is an emergency item for the passage this session and I’ve heard rumors that he would call a special session if needed. Governor Abbott definitely understands the benefit of a 17A repeal also.
Huge applause once again for your finger-tip resources :)
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