Free Republic

It’s the Article V opponent’s favorite scare tactic: “This has never happened before…we can’t possibly know what the delegates will do! They could rewrite the entire Constitution.” [Cue ominous music.] In fact, the states have met in convention dozens of times, and none of these meetings exceeded its mandate, including the Constitutional Convention of 1787. These folks are misinformed…or they hope you are. Columnist Dick Evans marked the 90th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition on December 5 with a guest column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, “When volunteer lawyers saved us from Prohibition.” Evans pulls back the curtain to...

"It's going to require us working in our individual states using the tools that the Founding Fathers gave us to be able to take power away from DC and return it back to the American people to make sure that the incentives are to produce good government rather than self serving government," the governor said. the Florida Legislature is going to be certifying a series of amendments constitutional reforms under Article Five of the Constitution that will rein Washington in and that will hold Washington accountable." "We're in a great spot, because people look to us for leadership on a...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is eyeing a change to the United States Constitution. The state's legislature on Thursday approved a resolution in support of Newsom's call for a 28th Constitutional amendment, according to the Los Angeles Times. The amendment would enshrine a list of Democratic gun-control policy priorities into federal law. California is requesting a Constitutional convention to enshrine the amendment. For the amendment to be considered, two-thirds of state legislatures would have to vote in favor of a convention, according to the Times. The proposed "Right to Safety Amendment" would limit legal gun ownership to adults 21 and older,...

Following the release of President Joe Biden’s budget proposal, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington, R- Texas, is proposing a means for voters to have a say about rising debt and soaring inflation.Arrington introduced a resolution calling for an Article V convention of states. More than the required two-thirds of states previously called for either a fiscal responsibility amendment or a balanced budget amendment in the 1970s. Arrington’s legislation says, Congress "appears to have failed in its constitutional duty to count applications and call a ‘convention for proposing amendments.’" He introduced a similar measure last year, but now Republicans...

Rush Limbaugh spent his life advocating for liberty and defending the rights of American citizens. He encouraged his millions of followers to get involved in politics and make their voices heard at the local, state, and national levels. One of the ways he urged his listeners to get involved was by joining the Article V movement. But those who oppose the Founders' solution to federal overreach have launched a disinformation campaign attacking both Rush and Convention of States Action President Mark Meckler. In a recent post on social media, Montana State Senator Theresa Manzella claims that Mark lied about Rush's...

Relax, Jonathan. This was liberal paranoia on steroids. On his Sunday Show on MSNBC this week, saying that the prospect of a constitutional convention, something advocated by many conservatives and Republicans, "scared the hell out of me," and really "blew my mind," Jonathan Capehart actually expressed this concern: "The one thing that folks need to understand is any rights that have been granted under the Constitution, even as an amendment, such as granting full U.S. citizenship to the former slaves, would be up for grabs in a constitutional convention! "And with the way folks [i.e., conservatives] are acting right now,...

Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States Foundation, discussed the importance of a constitutional convention of the states on Breitbart News Saturday and said it is the “mechanism” for the American people to “take power away from Washington, DC.” Breitbart News Saturday host Matthew Boyle opened the show by asking Meckler why a constitutional convention of the states is needed in today’s America. Meckler said that the constitution provides this mechanism to give the American people the power to amend the constitution instead of only Congress having that power. He also noted that the founding fathers unanimously agreed on...

In the clip, Beck says: “I have been a supporter of the Article V Convention of States. I have been a pretty big supporter, a vocal supporter. I am reversing that today because after some real thought and prayer, we are not the people to open up this sacred document. We are not the people. That was a God inspired document that was divinely written. You can read that from I don’t know how many founders. The very hand of God was involved. Benjamin Franklin even said that. The very hand of God was involved in writing that document. Do...

The South Carolina House of Representatives just voted 64-48 to pass the Convention of States Resolution, making the Palmetto State legislature the 19th to call for a Convention of States to end federal overreach! The South Carolina Senate voted on March 10 to pass the Convention of States Resolution, and the House voted last year to do the same. But the Senate removed a sunset clause that the House had included. Today’s vote in the South Carolina House was to concur in that change. It ensures that the Resolution will continue to be valid until the required 34 states have...

A large and growing number of Americans are coming to recognize that the federal government is out of control. Our national debt currently stands at over $30 trillion. Just 2 lonely Democrats stood between us and another $5 trillion in government spending. If we lined up 100-dollar bills end to end, that debt would reach to the moon and back – over 60 times! The average family of 4 is paying more interest (via their taxes) to service the national debt than they are for their own home mortgage. Our federal government behemoth now reaches into every aspect of our...

The Nebraska legislature passed a resolution on Friday calling for an Article V convention of states, making it the 17th state to do so. After considering it for the past year, the unicameral body approved the measure in a 32-11 vote, with six senators abstaining or absent. According to the resolution, the Nebraska legislature seeks to call a convention “limited to proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of...

Wisconsin has become the 16th state to call for a convention of the states to consider making a variety of changes to the U.S. Constitution, a move that drew bipartisan opposition in the state Senate but not enough to block its approval. The resolution had passed 15 states, mostly in the South, before Wisconsin became the first since Mississippi in 2019 to approve it. Congress must receive requests from 34 states to convene a convention of the states.

Nebraska inched closer Thursday to joining other states in a call for a special convention to make changes to the U.S. Constitution. The measure won second-round approval in the Legislature despite objections from some lawmakers that it could lead to unintended consequences. One final vote is required.

For the past several years, the Convention of States Project has been gathering concerned citizens from every pocket of the country to urge state legislators to use this long-neglected constitutional “check” on the power of Washington. With Republicans in control of 33 state legislatures and Trump in the White House, now is the time to make this happen. The Project’s model resolution, which has been introduced in 48 states, to date, calls for a meeting of the states to consider, and potentially propose, amendments that would achieve one or more of three objectives Impose fiscal restraints on the federal government,...

It should be obvious by now to any thinking American that our country is in the middle of a Communist Revolution. The Chinese Communist Party , our own homegrown Leftists and their Willing Idiots have clearly decided the time was ripe to usher in their Revolution. Donald Trump was the trigger. He had to go so the enemy burned and looted our cities and infected the World with a virus that provided the excuse for mail in voting with its rich opportunities for Voter Fraud. If we can’t vote them out how do we win? The answer is already...

Dozens of students at the University of Florida said the U.S. Constitution should be abolished and even signed a petition to do away with it. "It should be abolished," one student told Campus Reform in a man on the street-style interview published Thursday. "It’s time for a new Constitution." "The time period was rich old white men and that's exactly what that document says, and stands for and vouches for," another student added when asked if the Constitution is a symbol of the patriarchy.

A government designed to secure our unalienable rights has become something of a black-hole that devours liberty. In the sum total of our three national branches, fewer than 1,500 (One president, 100 senators, 435 congressmen, and about 875 Article III judges) men and women push around over 320 million citizens without restraint or fear for their personal safety. What is to be done? If we weigh the potential benefit, meaning the restoration of our republic, against the remote disadvantages of an amendments convention, there is little reason to avoid one. Some prominent conservatives have expressed concern over the possibility of...

The tragic mishandling of the situation in Afghanistan has, ironically enough, given D.C. politicians plenty of cover to sneak through other measures that would be opposed by a majority of Americans. One of those was passed by the Democrat-controlled House last week. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would give Joe Biden's Justice Department the ability to police new changes to voting laws in states that have racked up a series of “violations,” drawing them into a mandatory review process known as “preclearance.” In other words, states would be unable to pass election integrity laws without getting the say-so...

In a 1792 column in the National Gazette, James Madison* briefly touched on Charles de Montesquieu’s three operative principles of government: fear in despotisms, honor in monarchies, and virtue in republics. From this starting point, the genius Madison divided governing principles into three species which reflect their predominant spirit. Madison:May not governments be properly divided, according to their predominant spirit and principles, into three species of which the following are examples?First. A government operating by a permanent military force, which at once maintains the government and is maintained by it; which is at once the cause of burdens on the...

Remember that famous Hillary Clinton line about Benghazi? She asked, "What difference does it make?" She meant it's over; it's old news; why rehash it now? Nothing will change. Of course, that was convenient for Clinton and former President Barack Obama. They lied, and heroes died at Benghazi. The last thing Clinton or Obama wanted was an investigation. Democrats are saying the same thing now about the 2020 election. They say: "What difference does it make? Donald Trump lost. It's over. The election is certified. Joe Biden is the president. Nothing will change. You're all wasting your time." Again, that's...