SOLVING OUR BLOATED FED PROBLEM

Convention of States

“Ignorance lies not in the things you don’t know, but in the things you know that ain’t so.” — Will Rogers

A Constitutional Power

Under Article 5 of the Constitution, states have the right to call for a Convention of States to propose new amendments.  No, it isn’t just the Congress who has this power.  And when Congress is causing a lot of the problems, especially the bloated administrative state, passing the laws Congress should have passed, we can’t count on them to do the right thing.

This convention can only address the following:

§  Limiting federal power and jurisdiction

§  Mandate fiscal responsibility

§  Impose term limits on federal officials

Our founders hoped that Congress would act in the best interest of the states, but when it didn’t, this right could be applied to correct these problems.  Though many disagree, I maintain that the most critical items are the first two.  Once we cut the scope, size and spend of the Fed, we might see retirements flood the system, as once-powerful legislators see they no longer have as strong a club to beat the populace into submission through spending and government bureaucracy. 

Under discussion could be such things as insisting on a balanced budget each year without raising taxes.  We could also strip the Feds of power over areas they have failed in, such as education, justice, medicine, immigration, trade, welfare, etc.  Imagine the Cabinet shrinking in size.  Imagine states having the right to have their laws enforced rather than superseded by Federal edict.  Almost anything you find wrong with our country is probably due to overreach on the part of the Federal government.

How Does it Work?

When 2/3 of the states (34) adopt applications demanding that Congress call a convention to propose amendments, Congress must act.  Each state has an active convention-of-states team and as of this moment, 15 states have passed a resolution, so we are moving forward.   

After discussions, 38 states must vote to pass each amendment.  A state can fail to send representatives, but they retain the right not to ratify any amendment (this caused the ERA to fail).  The procedures are well-documented in detail, and despite what you might hear in protest, conventions of states have been held as recently as 2017.

Arguments Against

The main argument implies that this convention could rewrite the Constitution.  It can’t.  As a part of the actual document, the Constitution clearly defines what can and can’t be part of this action. 

The rest of the arguments basically come in two flavors.  In one case, they attempt to defend their massive powers by pretending that the growth of government hasn’t hurt us immensely, stripping us of freedoms and money.   They point to accomplishments of the past, ignoring the evidence that we would have been better off without intervention, i.e., FDR and the Depression.  The second case is designed to scare us into believing that such a ”runaway” convention could actually strip us of Constitutional rights, such as the right to speak and the right to arms.  This is particularly amusing in that the Left has been striving mightily to strip us of the Bill of Rights in recent years.  They should be applauding a convention of states if they believe that it would have those powers.

In truth, the feds are scared.  If it was decided to abolish various administrative agencies, allowing the responsibility to fall back on the states, a lot of people would lose not only their jobs, but their influence.  Imagine our border if the border states had the right to set immigration rules!  How great would it be if counties could regulate their schools to fit the needs of the real children attending them, rather than managing to a one-size-fits-all teaching methodology. 

There are so many benefits that could be gained by cutting the size, scope and budget of the federal government.  Keeping more of our own money and having fewer regulations and laws, more businesses would start up, more houses would be built, states would compete more with each other and we would all keep more of our own, damn money.

This Won’t Be Easy

The founders made it hard to change the Constitution, but not impossible.  But in a day where the government has failed on everything over the past year, we might just have the will to get this done.  How can you help?  See the link below where you can sign a petition and even volunteer.  Write letters to the editor of your local paper.  Message it out.  In our lifetimes, this might be the best (only) time where the momentum is there. Learn More Here