A Constitutional Convention (ConCon) would be the end of America, but few realize it. The first calls for ConCon were made in the 1970s by Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski; need I say more? ⁃ TN Editor
The November election put Republicans in full control of a record number of state legislatures around the country, a level of power that gives the party an unprecedented opportunity: change the U.S. Constitution.
Republicans already control Congress, the White House and more governors’ offices than they have in nearly a century. But it’s the state legislatures that hold perhaps the greatest promise for lasting change.
The GOP now holds numerical majorities in 33 legislatures, one shy of the two-thirds required to initiate a convention on constitutional amendments. There is no credible talk of using that power for amendments on hot-button social issues, such as banning abortion or gay marriage. But conservatives have a list of bread-and-butter governing issues they would like to see enshrined in the Constitution.
One, to require a balanced federal budget, is already approaching the level of support that would trigger a convention. Beyond that, a major state-level push is planned during 2017 for a constitutional convention that could also consider amendments to impose term limits on members of Congress and rein in various federal powers.
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged support for an amendment on congressional term limits.
“The possibility of constitutional change is in the air,” said law professor Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, a nonprofit museum that is hosting academic debates and symposiums about the efforts to amend the Constitution.
The U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was ratified in 1788, and its Article V spells out two ways to propose amendments. By a two-thirds vote of each chamber, the U.S. House and Senate can refer an amendment to the states. Or two-thirds of the state legislatures can request that Congress call a convention of the states.
Both scenarios require three-fourths of the states – or 38 – to ratify an amendment before it takes effect.
If the supporters of a balanced budget amendment succeed, it would be the first time in the nation’s history that states initiated the process. That scenario has become more likely as a result of the November election.
It takes 34 states to trigger a convention for constitutional amendments, meaning a unified Republican push would need the help of only a few Democrats in a single state to reach the mark.
The article says, “There is no credible talk of using that power for amendments on hot-button social issues, such as banning abortion or gay marriage.” I have proposed a constitutional amendment that would overrule the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, but ensure that same-sex couples are treated like first-class, not second-class, citizens. It is in a little (42 pages) book I wrote that you can read on Amazon, entitled How Trump’s Victory May Affect Same-Sex Marriage: Will Obergefell v. Hodges Be Overruled? My book is “credible talk.”
Bob DeCarlo
December 6, 2016 1:31 pm
I agree with the statement at the top of this article by the TN editor. A Constitutional Convention (ConCon) would be the end of America, but few realize it. The first calls for ConCon were made in the 1970s by Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski; need I say more? ⁃ TN Editor I do not understand why this article was even posted. based on the above statement which I agree with do to the fact that a ConCon could totally trash or eliminate the Constitution. Two of the good things that it mentions are balanced budget and term limints, they… Read more »
Arrow
December 7, 2016 10:20 am
A ConCon would result in more of the same, but worse. The double con. Someone else telling one how to behave as if they had any authority to do so. Authority is not law, Law is authority (mentioning what Jesus said about man’s law is probably not necessary). Democracy (mob rule) is the near perfect method they’ve sold people to control the masses… a dividing of people. Think it’s bad now… just wait.
wesley fortney
December 7, 2016 10:41 am
the constitution is clear and also embodiable in policy’s effective formulation of human manifests. adding to it or extending the already corrupted interpretations would be of devastating consequence for the relation of person’s liberty to liberty for exploitation. there is no way forward but to overwhelmingly confirm in action the absolute control and goodwill of the citizen persons of America. failure to demonstrate with sincere humility America’s capacity to provide non-hypocritical relations with effective intentions of freeing the masses to pursue their own community engagement as well as development of cooperative improvement of children’s lives. the world will see our… Read more »
Henry
December 7, 2016 1:21 pm
Writing a balanced budget into the constitution is nothing but political masturbation, given that the government doesn’t feel the need to follow the Constitution they already have and there is nobody to call them on it. Ninth and Tenth Amendments? Dead letters. Standing army? Burdening America (and the world) since WWI. Defined federal crimes? Now about 4,500, compared to the three authorized by the Constitution. Commerce clause? The root password to what remains of your liberties. Impeachment for overreaching officials? “Nothing but a scarecrow,” since the time of Thomas Jefferson. Why bother? The Constitution is an unenforceable failure.
the time to make changes to the “rules” is not whilst in a heated battle in any history.
people that try to change the rules in the middle of the game remind me of my big sister who always won at Monopoly.
Reviewing the 16th amendment; Bill Benson did a state by state audit from each state’s records and philander knox did not have an article V conformity to pronounce it ratified. If this country’s politicians couldn’t conform to the article V requirements in the 19th century they sure’s heck won’t get it right in the digital 21st century.
The article says, “There is no credible talk of using that power for amendments on hot-button social issues, such as banning abortion or gay marriage.” I have proposed a constitutional amendment that would overrule the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, but ensure that same-sex couples are treated like first-class, not second-class, citizens. It is in a little (42 pages) book I wrote that you can read on Amazon, entitled How Trump’s Victory May Affect Same-Sex Marriage: Will Obergefell v. Hodges Be Overruled? My book is “credible talk.”
I agree with the statement at the top of this article by the TN editor. A Constitutional Convention (ConCon) would be the end of America, but few realize it. The first calls for ConCon were made in the 1970s by Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski; need I say more? ⁃ TN Editor I do not understand why this article was even posted. based on the above statement which I agree with do to the fact that a ConCon could totally trash or eliminate the Constitution. Two of the good things that it mentions are balanced budget and term limints, they… Read more »
A ConCon would result in more of the same, but worse. The double con. Someone else telling one how to behave as if they had any authority to do so. Authority is not law, Law is authority (mentioning what Jesus said about man’s law is probably not necessary). Democracy (mob rule) is the near perfect method they’ve sold people to control the masses… a dividing of people. Think it’s bad now… just wait.
the constitution is clear and also embodiable in policy’s effective formulation of human manifests. adding to it or extending the already corrupted interpretations would be of devastating consequence for the relation of person’s liberty to liberty for exploitation. there is no way forward but to overwhelmingly confirm in action the absolute control and goodwill of the citizen persons of America. failure to demonstrate with sincere humility America’s capacity to provide non-hypocritical relations with effective intentions of freeing the masses to pursue their own community engagement as well as development of cooperative improvement of children’s lives. the world will see our… Read more »
Writing a balanced budget into the constitution is nothing but political masturbation, given that the government doesn’t feel the need to follow the Constitution they already have and there is nobody to call them on it. Ninth and Tenth Amendments? Dead letters. Standing army? Burdening America (and the world) since WWI. Defined federal crimes? Now about 4,500, compared to the three authorized by the Constitution. Commerce clause? The root password to what remains of your liberties. Impeachment for overreaching officials? “Nothing but a scarecrow,” since the time of Thomas Jefferson. Why bother? The Constitution is an unenforceable failure.
the time to make changes to the “rules” is not whilst in a heated battle in any history.
people that try to change the rules in the middle of the game remind me of my big sister who always won at Monopoly.
Reviewing the 16th amendment; Bill Benson did a state by state audit from each state’s records and philander knox did not have an article V conformity to pronounce it ratified. If this country’s politicians couldn’t conform to the article V requirements in the 19th century they sure’s heck won’t get it right in the digital 21st century.