But you know us. We are your friends and neighbors. The folks who live next door and down the street.
A builder from Colorado, a grandmother from Florida, a sheriff from Washington, a retired judge from Michigan, a writer from California, a grad student from Louisiana.
Computer guys, teachers, lawyers, doctors, businessmen, economists and actors.
People you never met and never heard about, but people just like you who care about America, who love our country, its history, its Constitution, and its promise of liberty and opportunity.
We have come together because we care about the United States.
We’re worried about our beloved nation.
We don’t think the government in Washington D.C. is working the way Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and George Washington intended it to work.
It was supposed to be a federal government, comprised of sovereign states, exercising limited powers. It was not supposed to be in charge of everything. It was not supposed to be dictating every aspect of our lives from the cradle to the grave.
The government created in Philadelphia in 1789 was not a socialist dictatorship, it did not create a ruling class oligarchy or authorize politicians to feather their own nests with the earnings of the people.
The Founders knew that self interest and partisanship are the enemies of liberty.
They recognized that the government they designed could become corrupted by the very individuals who were elected to run it, and they provided a way for the people to react, to come together and to fix it.
They gave use a remedy, and we, the people, intend to use it.
It’s called an Article V Convention. It’s an amendatory convention. A way for the people to draft, refine, and propose individual amendments to strengthen the Constitution we already have.
It’s not empowered to write a new constitution.
The Founders expected the Constitution they gave us to be a living document. They expected us to adopt amendments that would keep America the land of the free.
That’s why We The People have come together in Convention USA.
We want you to come and join us. We need your common sense, your loyalty to American principles and traditions, your faith in our ability to protect our Constitution.
When the Philadelphia Convention was finished, a lady asked Benjamin Franklin what sort of government had been created. His answer echoes down through the years to each and every one of us:
“It is a Republic, madam, if you can keep it.”
We invite you to visit www.ConventionUSA.org. Do it now. And please forward this message to every concerned citizen you know.
We are the people. And we are all in this together.
Good one Old Judge! Couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteReally well written, Judge. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteAmendments can change a lot of things - from allowing regional excise taxes to including the election of regional vice presidents in the electoral college. One man's rewrite is another man's amendment.
ReplyDeleteWhether a proposal is an amendment or a replacement is not the call of the Chair, but of the Convention itself - and ultimately it is the call of Congress, which has plenary authority over the scope of Article V Conventions and the ratification of amendments. Under the Coleman decision, which is the controlling law, these questions are poltical, not justicable.
ReplyDeleteDoes an argument about what is in or out doom an Article V convention? Hardly. A little controversy will make news and be good for the enterprise.
Does the power of Congress in this area doom the Convention? Again, no. It does require, however, that the 2/3rds of the states that petition for it also have a majority of the House - which argues for creating a political party around the convention's aims.
The great Article V myth is that state governments can be used as a counter-weight to the Feds. That only goes so far - however because the same political committees that campaign for and to a large extent nominate state legislators also campaign for and nominate members of Congress. Even without gerrymandering - in any given geographic area one party dominates in both arenas. With gerrymandering its a sure thing.
A new party is needed to get by both parties - since the essential reform required for any amendment to mean anything is campaign finance reform - and both parties are heavily invested in the current system unless you can take over one of the existing parties and get it to forgo special interest money.