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Rescind the 2014 Florida Application for a Convention of States
The issue of a Constitutional Convention is rooted in Article V of the U.S.
Constitution. It states there are two methods of amendment (1) Congress and (2) Convention of States. For over two hundred years the traditional Congressional method, that is, one amendment at a time, has been used and we now have 27 amendments to the Constitution. The Convention of States method which allows for amendments (plural) has never been used and shouldn’t be because it would be a free for all as Chief Justice Warren Burger has warned.
Article VI of the Constitution requires that Senators and Representatives shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation to support the Constitution. Members of Congress are accountable to the electorate. Article VI does not require delegates at an Article V Convention to do the same, that is, to take an oath to support the Constitution. Delegates to an Article V Convention are not accountable to anyone.
In 2014, the Florida Legislature passed an Application for an Article V Convention. One of the amendments they proposed was a balanced budget amendment. Most folks would be for a balanced budget. Why not a convention for that reason? But a convention of delegates not required to support the Constitution leaves the delegates free to consider changes to the Constitution itself or to create a new form of government all together. That is the risk. In 1787, the Founders met to amend the Articles of Confederation. Instead, they formed a new government. An Article V Convention could do the same.
Congress is bicameral. It has a Senate and a House of Representatives. Two thirds of both houses shall propose amendments to the Constitution. An Article V Convention is not bicameral. There is no House. There is no Senate. There is no two thirds requirement. There is nothing and until Congress calls the Convention no one knows what there will be. Each state has two Senators and one Representative per congressional district. This allows for both the big states and the little states to be represented fairly.
Whatever passes in an Article V Convention must be ratified by 3/4 of the States. The Founders changed the ratification requirement from 100% to 75%. The Convention delegates could do something similar and change the requirement again.
Retired Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote, “a Constitutional Convention today would be a free for all for special interest groups, television coverage, and press speculation.” Phyllis Schlafly, a revered conservative, argued against the Convention of States. She said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Her testimony to the Oregon Senate is highly instructive and is on a YouTube video. Justice Antonin Scalia said of this free for all, kitchen sink approach, “A Constitutional Convention is a horrible idea."
The 2020 election gave us an example of the states’ reliability. The states had the constitutional authority to enforce election law. Some states abdicated their responsibility, as did the courts, and the result has been a disaster. It was the states that bought the machines which were then connected to the Internet. They broke the chain of custody of votes and destroyed a presidency and put a cadaver in the White House. He was accompanied by an affirmative action, California, dingbat lawyer. It wasn't the Constitution that did that. It was Republican state legislatures and others that did it.
Any candidate who claims to be pro-constitution should oppose a Convention of States and work to rescind the Florida 2014 Application for an Article V Convention. The debacle of the 2020 election created by the secular left could be the fate of a Convention of States putting at risk the Constitution itself.
In his book, Rediscovering God in America, former speaker of the House of Representatives
Newt Gingrich wrote:
“Because of their belief that power had come from God to each individual the framers began the Constitution with the words "We the people." Note that the Founding Fathers did not write "We the states."
The Founders gave us a form of government that has lasted for more than two hundred years. It has given us stability and flexibility with the traditional amendment process, that is, one amendment at a time. We should maintain this form of government and not risk losing it.
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Rescind the 2014 Florida Application for a Convention of States
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