When looking at the comments on the posts and the comments on the shares, I see quite a few cases where people misunderstand some of the basics of how Article 5 works and what we are doing here. I started to write a spiel to get everyone up to speed when I realized that I already had... LOL.. Below is the verbiage from the FAQs for Petitioners document that everyone receives before they start petitioning. I know everyone is in a hurry, but please take just a couple of minutes to read the following and I guarantee you will have a much better understanding of what we are doing and how. Thanks, Bob Reid National Director Term Limits for US Congress FAQs for Petitioners When you are on the street doing petitioning, there are certain questions that you will be hit with all the time. If you know the answers to the common questions, most people will sign. Here is a listing of what you can expect to hear and the answers that will have you ready. FAQs Q- How are you planning to do this? A- We are petitioning in all the states using both hard copies and e-petitions. The petitions will then be formally handed off to the State Legislatures. The State Legislatures will apply for an Article 5 Convention for this Amendment. After passing at the Convention, it will be returned to the States for ratification. All of this does NOT require Congress’s approval. Q- How do I become involved? A- Keep spreading the word; sign the petition; join your state page; and volunteer to help petition. Q- Who is heading this up? A- The people leading this movement are average Americans like you. There are no sponsors, political or otherwise. Q- Will the State Governments support this? A- Absolutely. First, after Senators became a popular vote,rather than a State assignment, the States lost their voice in Congress and Congress has been usurping authority from the States ever since. Second, many members of the State legislature would love a chance to end up in Congress, but with incumbents pretty much guaranteed re-election for life, they never have a chance. Third, States want equal representation in Congress. Right now the rules of Congress give authority based on seniority. A state that has a Senator that has been there for 40 years has a lot more power than a state that has a new senator. Q- Does how long they are in Congress really make them more corrupt or is that just rhetoric? A- It’s true. Studies have proven that the longer a person is exposed to temptation, the more likely they are to succumb to it. The amount of temptation in Congress is hard to match anywhere else. Also, people tend to be molded by their environment. In Congress, they are treated as elites by entire industries and lobbyists. Overtime they can’t help but develop a disconnect from the average American and a feeling that they know what’s best, regardless of what the people want. Q- Why Term Limits? Isn’t voting all we need? A- The voting system is broken and hasn’t worked for a longtime. Exit polls have shown that people vote based on name recognition, party lines, and media exposure. An incumbent gets all three. They have a 90% chance of being re-elected no matter what they do in office. Q- Won’t Term Limits just cause more politicians to receive full pay for life? A- That is a myth that has grown through the years. They have a contributory retirement plan like all federal employees are offered. The myth probably developed because most stay in Congress for so many years that by the time they retire they are past the retirement age, so it seems that they’re getting retirement for life. With term limits, they won’t have more than 12 years to contribute to their retirement and many will not be old enough to draw on their retirement once they are out. Q- Congress was intended to be a service, why should we pay salaries and benefits? A- If there were no salaries or benefits, the average American like you and I couldn’t afford to spend up to 12 years in Congress. The only people in Congress would be the wealthy. Q- Shouldn’t we fear an Article 5 Convention? I’ve heard it called a ConCon and that they could destroy all of our rights and the Constitution. A- There will always be those who scream “The sky is falling!” Some do it because they know no better and others do it because they don’t want Americans to recognize that there is a way to rein in Congress. Article 5 specifically states that ONLY Amendments can be presented at the Convention. Any Amendment passed at the Convention then has to be returned to the States and ratified by at least 38 States. There are currently 27 Republican-controlled states and 21 Democrat-controlled states. Nothing leaning left or right has any chance at all of being passed by 38 states. The only thing that will be passed is something completely non-partisan like Term Limits. Q- Why don’t we go with a shorter limit? Why 12 years? A- A great deal of research and thought went into deciding on 12 years. You have to consider the requirements in Article 1 of the Constitution; why the lengths of individual terms are their current lengths; what the State Governments will be willing to support; and the balance in which we have experience, but not an opportunity for a career. 12 years is equal to 2 6-year Senate terms as currently defined in Article 1. It allows experience, but not a career. Q- While we are at it, why don’t we include some other changes that need to be made? A- The key to success is simplicity. The more details we add, the less likely we will succeed. You can never make everyone happy. Every detail added, there will be some that disagree. Right now we need to focus on this one thing that crosses all the party lines. Q- Won’t term limits make lobbyists more powerful and influential? A- No. Lobbyists hate term limits. It takes years and millions to buy a member of Congress. It’s worth it if they know the person will be there for another 20 or 30 years, but with term limits, it’snot nearly as effective. Q- Why just a single Amendment? If we’re going to have a convention, why not more? A- You have to consider both the legal and strategic perspective. A single amendment greatly increases our ability to force a convention to be called and overcome hurdles that can otherwise be thrown in our way by the many attorneys in Congress that don’t want to see this happen. Q- Why don’t we join with the Convention of States Project? Isn’t one of their issues Term Limits? A- Term Limits is one of COS’s issues, but it is not their only one. Unfortunately, their strategy is flawed. They have put too many eggs in their basket and have ended up with a partisan package that only one side of the aisle will support. As I mentioned before, if anything leans left or right, you can’t get enough states to call for a convention. Congratulations! You now know the answers to the majority of questions you will face. These answers are summaries. If you decide you want to learn more, go to the FAQs on the National Term Limits for US Congress page, where the answers go into more detail. Good luck and thank you all for being part of a movement that will change the course of our nation.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 12:24:22 +0000
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