Amending the Constitution to Save It?
It’s no secret the balance of power between the federal government, the states, and the people has been tipping more and more towards the feds. It seems that there isn’t enough power in the world to quench their thirst. What can the states and the people do to reclaim some of that power and restore liberty? The Constitution provides a couple avenues for recourse. One is an Article V “Convention for Proposing Amendments.” This differs from a Constitutional Convention however. In this iVoices.org podcast Professor Rob Natelson explains that important difference, and how an Article V convention can save our great union by restoring liberty for the states and the people, respectively. The research Rob cites is his own from a series of articles published at our sister think tank the Goldwater Institute. In the next few weeks, the Independence Institute will also be publishing Rob’s work. Keep your eye out for that, and keep checking in on Rob’s personal blog here at Independence – constitution.i2i.org.
Jon, I continue to be utterly amazed at the provisions within our Constitution for preserving our Liberties.
Should Republicans pick up enough states during the mid-term elections, can the Republican Governor’s Association initiate amendments to return power to the states? By this I mean, would the Republican Governor’s Association be the proper vehicle for change? I’m thinking that the fewer people involved, the greater likelihood for agreement – as opposed to any attempt to induce state legislatures to act on our behalf. Thank you!
21 Oct 2010 at 2:02 pm
All fifty states have cast hundreds of applications for the Article V Convention. It’s currently mandated, the applications expire if and when a convention is called. Thus, raising awareness of the convention clause is all that’s needed to coerce Congress to carry out its constitutional obligation to issue the call. As Lincoln correctly said (to paraphrase): It doesn’t matter what Congress, the Court, or the Executive say the Constitution means, only what We The People say it means. And as soon as a tipping-point majority of us say it means we now convoke a federal convention, we will have one as we deserve.
Thank you for your work in raising awareness of the solution, if we don’t galvanize around it there is an inevitable conclusion to runaway federal power.
Application database: http://foavc.org/file.php/1/Amendments
21 Oct 2010 at 2:53 pm
You can read the applications for a convention at http://www.foavc.org and read about the two federal lawsuits filed in the matter of a convention call. The evidence is overwhelming. Congress is mandated to call a convention–now.
21 Oct 2010 at 7:35 pm
[...] the last installment, Rob Natelson spoke about an Article V convention and how it differed from a “constitutional [...]
27 Oct 2010 at 1:30 pm