Stop Ohio Article V Convention Call SJR 5 Update: Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 20, 2013, the Ohio House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on SJR 5, which calls upon Congress to call a convention of the states, in accordance with Article V of the U.S. Constitution, for the express purpose of adding a federal balanced budget amendment (BBA) to the U.S. Constitution. If the Ohio House adopts the resolution tommorow, Ohio will be the 20th state to be on record with a current call for a BBA Article V convention. Two-thirds of the states, which would be 34, are required in order for Congress to authorize an Article V amendments convention of the states, also known as a constitutional convention (or con-con). On October 30, 2013, by a vote of 28-3, the Ohio State Senate approved Senate Joint Resolution 5. This bill, SJR 5, applies for the Congress of the United States to call an Article V convention of the states for the sole purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States stating that, in the absence of a national emergency, federal appropriations made by the Congress in any given fiscal year, shall not exceed available revenues. This type of amendment is known as a balanced budget amendment (BBA). The key provision of SJR 5 reads: The General Assembly of the State of Ohio urges the Congress of the United States to propose a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution and hereby applies to the Congress, under the provisions of Article V of the United States Constitution, for the calling of a convention of the states limited to proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution requiring that in the absence of a national emergency the total of all federal appropriations made by the Congress for any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenues for that fiscal year, together with any related and appropriate fiscal restraints. [Emphasis added in bold]. However noble this proposed effort to pass a balanced budget amendment (BBA) to the U.S. Constitution might be, it would be unlikely to improve the state of the economy. A call to balance the budget could go ignored due to a “national emergency,” such as a war, like the current and recent U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and other military operations throughout the Middle East and Africa, or some other crisis. In this event, spending would continue to increase and the budget would remain unbalanced. A BBA could also create the conditions forcing Congress to raise taxes, in the event that overall spending increased with insufficient or no cuts made in the budget. Most calls for a BBA have no stipulation to prohibit the federal government from raising taxes. There is also the possibility that a BBA to the U.S. Constitution would be ignored, much like the other amendments have been, especially the first ten (or Bill of Rights). The most important reason for defeating SJR 5 is that the Article V convention of the states it calls for cannot be limited by either Congress or state legislators to consideration of only one amendment, and could become a runaway convention that could lead to harmful changes to the Constitution. The Article V state convention amendment process was added to the Constitution by the Founding Fathers for the purpose of providing a way for future Americans to overturn an oppressive federal government. This means that an Article V convention could not be limited, or it could never succeed in empowering the states to regain control of the government by revising or replacing the Constitution. However, our situation today is that the Constitution is not defective, but rather that the federal government is not adhering to the Constitution. The fix for our situation is not to change the Constitution, but to educate voters to elect more constitutionalists to Congress, who would vote for laws to bring the federal government back into compliance with the Constitution. Congressional compliance with the Constitution would greatly reduce federal spending and lead to balanced budgets. Although called to strengthen and centralize the national government, the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 was convened to amend the Articles of Confederation rather than replace them. We were lucky then, seeing as the convention resulted in such an excellent Constitution. We were also fortunate to have had enlightened statesmen and drafters, such as James Madison, who understood the Lockean virtues and principles of individual liberty and limited government. Looking back, who among us today comes close to exemplifying the virtues of our Founding Fathers? The answer is too few and far between, if any at all. The proposal for a second constitutional convention (aka Article V convention) promoted by many conservatives today, could easily result in a runaway convention in which moderate and progressive elements could highjack the convention and alter the Constitution to include harmful amendments, such as “second generation” or “positive” socialist rights while curtailing our nation’s traditional negative rights that protect our liberties from the government. Such a runaway convention would have the power, just as the convention of 1787 did, to prescribe its own method for ratification of its proposed amendments. This means that the supposed safety net of the currently required ratification by three-fourths of the states could be replaced with a much less rigorous requirement. To understand why a constitutional convention would be dangerous, click here to view the video, Beware of Con-Cons: State Legislators Warn Against a Constitutional Convention. For further information, click on the Choose Freedom -- Stop A Con-Con graphic above. What we need is not for the States to revise the Constitution, but rather to restore and enforce it as our Founding Fathers originally intended (for more information, click here for a free PDF article download). We should not risk the passage of an Article V convention call no matter how appealing it may be. You now have the ability to help preserve the Constitution by helping to stop Ohio from calling upon Congress to authorize such a convention. Contact your state representative now (the vote will be 11/20/13) and ask him or her to oppose the passage of SJR 5, and to vote NAY on the bill. Phone calls can also be very effective, and of course, the most effective way to educate your state legislators is by making personal visits to their offices. Click here for contact information. Thanks. Your Friends at The John Birch Society JBS.org
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 08:06:57 +0000
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