By MARK ALSPAUGH SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Posted: November 7, 2013 at 4:07 a.m. Washington is broken. The evidence is almost endless. Unsustainable debt, ballooning entitlements, weakening national security, punitive taxes, declining international stature, oppressive regulation, unfunded mandates, bureaucratic corruption, gutted privacy, dysfunctional health care, rule by fiat, failure without accountability, self-serving patronage … and on … and on … and on. Our Constitution and our liberty are in grave danger. As Thomas Jefferson said, “When all government … in little as in great things … shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it … will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” Numerous center-to right organizations want to reverse the drift of our country toward socialism by trying to change Washington. While the spirit of their efforts is admirable,history shows that electing different people will, by itself, do little to stop the drift. The entrenched Washington political establishment is not composed of angels. First and foremost, it will always serve its own interests and will never voluntarily relinquish meaningful power no matter who is elected. If we are to keep the federal government from bankrupting our country, embezzling the states’ legitimate authority, and utterly destroying our liberties, intervention by a political force outside Washington is both critical and essential. Fortunately, our Constitution provides just such a remedy. It is accomplished through a Convention of States as provided by Article V of the Constitution. Through it, we the people, working through our state legislatures, have the rightful, lawful and legitimate power to rein in Washington, recover our constitutional rights, and impose binding restraints on the federal government. Article V of the Constitution states: “The Congress … on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments … which … shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress …” With its pillars founded on this Constitutional mandate, the Convention of States Project is moving forward. Unlike others, the project does not waste energy trying to change Washington. Instead, it does a complete end run around Washington. It works with states urging state legislatures to make proper use of Article V by calling for a Convention of States for the single purpose of reining in the power of the federal government and restoring our constitutional liberties. The process has been well-articulated in Mark Levin’s best-seller, The Liberty Amendments, and at the Convention of States website (conventionofstates). The main argument against a Convention of States, advanced by big-government progressives, uses unfounded scare tactics and incredible sophistry. They paint a doomsday scenario of a runaway convention where delegates disregard their original charge and set about to rewrite the Constitution, radically changing the American system of government. Such a proposition assumes delegates at a Convention of States could not and would not intelligently debate the issues in a way that would honor our nation’s founders. It also presumes that states cannot be trusted to protect either their sovereignty or their people. As they set about to dismantle our Constitution, they want you to believe that only Washington knows what is best. Such arguments are preposterous, irrational, frightening, and without substantive merit. Here are the facts: A runaway convention has no chance. Prior Article V litigation has established that improper changes to the convention’s task can be legally defeated. Moreover, there are well-documented methods, as in the Compact with America, of constructing a legally binding interstate agreement to define the framework of the convention and prevent illegal changes to the rules. Finally, the approval of 38 states is required for ratification and any proposed amendment can be defeated by the “no” votes of 13 states. Get real. The potential for the people of 38 states to approve conspiratorial, renegade constitutional changes is zero. A few examples of what might be considered by a Convention of States include: (1) balancing of the federal budget, (2) defining the General Welfare and Commerce Clauses consistent with original intent, (3) establishing term limits for Congress and the Supreme Court, (4) establishing a superior Court of States over the Supreme Court, (5) limiting de facto lawmaking by executive order and regulation, (6) replacing federal tax law with simpler and fairer tax law, and (7) prohibiting use of treaties to govern U.S. domestic law. The founders gave us the tools to curb federal abuse of power. It’s time to use these tools. Join and support the grass-roots work going forth in some 40 states call for a Convention of States, to preserve our way of life-for us and for posterity. ———◊——— Mark Alspaugh is the Arkansas state director of the Convention of States Project. Editorial, Pages 17 on 11/07/2013 B
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 15:16:28 +0000