In recent years, it appears that an average day in Washington DC begins and ends with one common tenet: ‘Nothing spends like other peoples’ money.’ By design of the federal government, the largess of federal money we receive here in Idaho is intended to be thought of as benevolent assistance from the federal government, but perhaps we should think of it as laundered money taken from over-taxed citizens all over America which we’ve allowed ourselves to become as reliant on as the relationship between a drug dealer and his addict.
We have allowed the federal government’s overreach through the last several decades which has become a designed system of overtaxing us enough that they could inadvertently and soberly reward us with stipends in a carrot and stick manner, in the form of funds we have become dependent on to remain solvent. Of course, this is a simple function of control over states.
That is not how our founders intended our system to run. The states created the federal government and the people created the states. But most power has evolved to Washington DC and it needs returning to the states (along with all our state lands owned by the Federal Government). Repealing the 17th Amendment so state legislatures select U.S. senators instead of selecting them by popular vote is of the utmost importance. Then once again, as originally intended, state legislatures would control Senators and get states back in control of their sovereignty. Senators would no longer be influenced by LOBBYI$T$ in Washington, DC. See:RX for Lobbyist Disease
IDAHO’S OPTION
States Joe Wolverton, II, JD of the New American magazine,“Our Founding Fathers were aware of the potential for presidents to accumulate powers not granted them in the Constitution, and they relied on the states to serve as barricades to protect the people from federal officials who would betray them and their oaths of office.
“The principal and most effective weapon of state resistance to federal overreaching is nullification. This antidote can stop the poison of all unconstitutional federal acts and executive orders at the state borders and prevent them from being imposed on the people.
“Every state in this union retains this right of refusal owing to their role as creators of the federal government because they, the states, created the federal government and reserve the right to resist the exercise by Congress of any powers not specifically granted to it by the states in the Constitution.
“States are, it is true, bound by the terms of their agreement (the Constitution) that created the federal government, but they have no obligation to sustain acts of the central government that go beyond the boundaries of that agreement.
“This principle is easy to understand by answering the following question: Would anyone enter into an agreement with others to create an entity that would have unlimited authority over them?” – Unquote Joe Wolverton, II, JD
Governor Otter knows about the merits of Nullification. See: Praise Be to Governor Otter for his experience nullifying.
THERE IS NO MAGIC, ONLY ACCOUNTABILITY
It is sickening to see the preponderance of thinking among elected officials of our federal and state governments who wish to make things happen for which they can be given credit for a resulting ‘fix,’ that actually, out from behind the smoke and mirrors, could be thought of as sheer ‘magic’ by using unconstitutional money. To understand this point well see: ‘The Mindset of Politicians Today’
Almost everything that happens in legislative sessions have costs attached to them. Bluntly ignoring our laws and our Constitution is the blatant use of tools such as subsidies, tax credits, grants, waivers, tax extensions, loopholes, loans, allocations, moving funds around among interagencies with special purpose names, etc. If something needs buying, supported, arranged, paid off or done in any way there are methods available, which all cost money, but are more apt to be presented as an accomplishment as clearly as a feat of ‘magic.’ Never mind that the matter had to do with money that’s not so accountable, where it comes from, that it may present an unfair advantage to one entity over others in the marketplace, or supports socialistic values by supporting illegal aliens for instance. After all what is the government here for in today’s mindset, right? A whole lot can be accomplished using other people’s money and borrowing into infinity when that is gone… until judgment (or accountability) day. Socialism never succeeds. Capitalism does.
As sure as Newton’s 3rd Law, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” there are circumstances and tradeoffs to competitors and citizens alike for every government interventionist action in our free enterprise system. Without government involvement, free enterprise breathes successfully. When government intervenes, free enterprise is restrained. [Remember Obama studied and worshiped Saul Alinsky and was best buds with unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers.]
Legislators who intervene into free enterprise for all sorts of purported well-intentioned purposes are constitutionally, to be recognized as traitors to their oaths and thusly these United States. They need to be removed from office with haste at the ballot boxes to be replaced with genuine patriots who do the bidding of the Constitution because they take their oaths seriously. Current legislators’ combined voting records for both houses of Congress in Washington are a paltry 34% voting with the Constitution. That is abysmally why America is in the bad shape it is today.
STOP THE BRINGING HOME THE BACON MINDSET
Probably the worst example of how far we have gotten away from what our founders created for us in our wonderful Constitution is the thinking that legislators are elected to accomplish bringing home other peoples’ money (the bacon) for local benefit. A legislative grab bag fest from the coffers of the rest, an almost unlimited candy store, if you will.
Our sage founders did not envision that our government would create and run or regulate large programs to provide safety nets for the poor, or programs for banking, education, labor, medicine, housing, subsidies, certainly not benefits for illegal aliens, granting a national ID and a seemingly endless amount of other endeavors that should belong untouched in the states and private sector. None of these things were contemplated by our Founders as legitimate aspects of federal authority. Nowhere in the Constitution can one find any legal authorization for the U.S. Government to involve itself in such matters.
Through the decades we have forgotten the wisdom of our Founders and rushed headlong toward a socialist nation with now a plethora of flat out freebies even to undeserving illegal aliens. Talk about a big carrot.
The foolishness of all this recent liberal socialism has been the many overwhelming programs’ regulations with their subsequent costs of expanded government, it’s inefficiencies and wastes on the back of expanded taxes making our country’s businesses the highest taxed on earth and are what have been killing our golden goose commerce and its applicable jobs.
PRESIDENT TRUMP IS THE REAL THING AND NEEDS OUR PRAYERS
I mostly worry about President Trump staying alive. There are a whole lot of long knives out there who are hell bent to do about anything to rid him from their incessant power mongering world.
President Trump is the perfect man for our time and is on the money with American traditions, values, understanding capitalism, accountability, national security, sovereignty, trade and the importance of good management. It is becoming more evident daily on how highly skilled he truly is as an effective executive that understands prioritizing and recognizing reality while accomplishing myriad tasks almost simultaneously. He has a good gut feel for most things, however, I am concerned about his judgment being too rushed without the benefit of enough time for constitutional consulting and deep ponderance.
MAKING THE RIGHT CALLS
Sanctuary cities violating immigration laws need being dealt with. President Trump should go forward full speed ahead ridding our Republic of these unconstitutional fabrications of the left that were created with socialistic intentions. It isn’t as much about protecting these poor downtrodden illegals who get a lot for nothing from us they don’t deserve as non-citizens, but about instilling socialist mores into our way of life. That Miami-Dade mayor who quickly caught on last week and ended his immigration program and sanctuary status immediately, so as not to lose his carrot ($55,000 annually), is not a dumb guy.
However, President Trump needs good constitutional advice on cleaning up Chicago and other violent cities with high murder rates. Those cities need being dealt with locally or with the help of state governments and perhaps their national guard. As much as we all care, these are local matters that need addressing locally. The federal government has no jurisdiction and no business whatsoever, intervening in local matters. However, for now, since that tool of federal money (the carrot) does still exist for control, then use that big stick with them by withholding money. That will certainly get their attention as well or better than did the mayor of Miami-Dade. But don’t send in troops! That would be unwise since it would be at federal expense, accomplish cleaning up a big mess for Chicago’s sorry mayor, Rahm ‘Dead Fish’ Emanuel (as Rush Limbaugh refers to him) and actually perhaps make him look like he did something since it would be on his watch and not affect his budget.
A WISH
A wish for our ‘bonafide,’ truly patriotic President of the United States is that he learn the Constitution ASAP, catch on to the fact that using tools like subsidies, tax credits, grants, waivers, tax extensions and loopholes, loans, allocations, etc. are not magic methods of getting things done they are incorrectly using our money to accommodate others and control us. Government would be most accountable if these ‘tools’ weren’t used at all. American capitalism would sprout the freest of competitive enterprises without them.
Federal taxes should be lessened so that more money would be available already in the states and local governments. So there is no need to comply with federal dictates for necessary budget money thus eliminating the fed’s power to force their programs on the states
Even the tariff tool is not ‘magic,’ however it does have its place in negotiating with countries that don’t treat us in kind. A point to be recognized is: Businesses don’t pay taxes, but must include them in their costing as just another line item cost. So new tariff costs are subsequently passed on to consumers in the form of price increases, adding to inflation. With that fact of life understood, invoking tariffs going forward all comes down to priorities.
So what’s a President to do? Answer: As intended, follow up on the plan to cut taxes deeply, including tax exemptions and loopholes and cut back all regulations as severely as possible. Actually, eliminating whole, unnecessary bureaus and agencieswith their overstaffed and overpaid employees is even going one better. Sure, there will be some culture shock, gnashing of teeth and hell raising from the sorry big ‘leftist’ media (but they raise hell no matter who’s doing what in traditional values, conservative and constitutional America). And as Steve Forbes recently said, making tax cuts revenue neutral will never work. The answer lies in cutting government bloat.
There is no ‘magic.’ There is only accountability.
“Freedom is difficult to understand because it isn’t a presence but an absence — an absence of governmental constraint.” — “A Time for Truth,” William E. Simon, Secretary of the Treasury for Presidents Nixon and Ford
The Democrat Party is now irrelevant. The far left socialist crazies that have totally hijacked the once proud Democrat Party are so at loss for any meaningful purpose-in-being after the wretched Obama years of destruction that they are now proven to be absolutely baseless and devoid of any justifiable positions going forward due to their long list of disasters such as ObamaCare, TARP, Fast and Furious, Solyndra, the Syrian Red Line, Benghazi, Beau Bergdahl swap, Iranian nuclear deal, adding $10 Trillion in national debt and on and on…
THANKS, TO OUR ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Patriotic Americans who voted and Donald Trump’s commitment to us are to be thanked. Especially, thank God for our Electoral College System lest the whole of America would be run by the population dense metropolises of the extreme left like New York and Los Angeles.
Those two far left coastal enclaves only represent a very small percentage of America but, in a true democracy’s popular vote only system, they would tip the vote in favor of America probably becoming a socialist, member state of a one-world government run by unaccountable, unelected global power elitist who know best about everything for everyone. Our freedom and sovereignty would be gone. We are blessed with our Republic and its Electoral College System where all the states have representation in voting instead of a democracy’s majority vote ruling. The above map makes the point that the few small geographical areas with dense populations of Hillary voters would have taken control of all the rest of the red area that voted for Trump. New York and Los Angeles should not run the rest of America.
Now, all the left can do is all they can do to: disrupt, obstruct, boldly and loudly proclaim falsities supported by their duplicitous big media comrades generating Fake News and divert attention with hell raising in the streets charging racism and division by professionally trained and well-paid anarchist supported by the likes of George Soros. They are also supported by what I say could be considered Fake Polls. I haven’t believed polls for a very long time. Pollsters have data banks identifying results of previous polling and know pretty much what zip codes to get the kind of answers they wish. Also, it makes sense that many of these polling companies are the same outfits generating the Fake News supporting the lefty wackos. I trust none of them.
Yes, as much as I like Fox News, and even more, Fox Business News, even their polling could also be suspect, when you consider, as much as it pains me to report it, that their founder and chairman, Rupert Murdoch is a member of the deceitful Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) which has been proven (in their own words) to really be the Establishment running our Congressional puppets in Washington, DC. For a few members like him and Judge Andrew Napolitano, I would like to believe that they are following the old adage about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. But, I am concerned about anybody’s membership in this mendacious Shadow of Power. See: review of the book Shadows of Power.
MANY GOOD DEMOCRATS ARE DELUDED
Extremists, far lefties like the ‘Schumer clowns’ and ‘Pelosi propagandists’ are despicable images for a political party’s ‘franchise players.’ The Democrat Party, much as some of the great people who were raised Democrats and want to remain loyal to what they always thought was the party of the people, because they were told so by their elders who were sold on the same by party officials, have always had a tough time acknowledging that the party touted socialist values. You know, socialist, like in the Communist Party’s concept. It was never in their face, socialism, but socialism subtly has always been present in all our Democrat Party regimes. Truth sounds like hate to those that hate the truth.
Socialism has never succeeded in all of history. True freedom’s Capitalism succeeds when government meddling stays out of it and lets free enterprise compete fairly. No subsidies, strangulating high taxes, unfair tax breaks, strangulating regulations and no picking winners and losers by applying any of the aforementioned.
STEVE FORBES REVEALS THE ESTABLISHMENT GOP TO PROPOSE 20% SALES TAX BILL
An undiscerning development was stated by Steve Forbes on Fox News’ “Your World with Neil Cavuto” while addressing President Trump’s intention to reduce corporate taxes from 35% to 15%, “One of the big potential obstacles, strangely among Establishment Republicans in Washington, is in a tax bill they want to send to President Trump. (That is the first time I have typed ‘President Trump,’ and it feels real good.) They want to put in the equivalent of a 20% national sales tax, what they call a ‘Border Adjustable Tax,’ that would put a tax on everything that comes into this country. So gasoline, would go up for millions of motorists by 30 cents a gal, stuff you buy from K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target, buying new automobiles, those prices would go up. This would really hit working Americans and middle-class Americans. The Republicans say they need the $120 billion that this new tax would raise to cover tax cuts. Well, that undermines the whole point of tax cuts.”
Forbes went on to say that making tax cuts revenue neutral will never work, but that the answer lies in cutting government bloat. These Establishment Republicans and Democrats won’t, by themselves, cut the bloat, it is both their candy store and power base. They will need lots of prodding by their constituents (who need awakening) and President Trump.
SO DOES IT COME DOWN TO THE LEFTY CRAZIES OR THE SORRY RIGHT?
It comes down to the fact that they are both at fault.
There are plenty of reasons why President Trump needs to get on with his swamp draining and one of them is that the Republicans do about as lousy a job following their sworn oaths to our Constitution as the Democrats. However, the Republicans have a reasonably good platform but they don’t follow it. The Republican Party, when it comes right down to it, again, are following the edicts of their leadership at the behest of the powerful ‘Establishment’ at the CFR along with their comrades at the United Nations. And so do the Democrats. Again, to be a believer of these last two statements read, ‘Who the ‘Establishment’ Really Is’ and read their verifying statements in their own words.
However, here in ‘God’s Country’ in north Idaho, we are proud of our Kootenai County Republican Central Committee following their state party platform as best they can. If the rest of the state had as good voting record legislators as we have here (save three legislators with bad voting records: Keough, Malek and Redman) Idaho would be about as good as a state could expect to get. See:‘The 9’ in Rubberstampville
If the Republicans in Washington don’t want to be recognized as part of the problem they better find their backbones and start paying serious attention to following their oaths to our Constitution and get out of the Establishment’s and LOBBYI$T$’ world of influence. President Trump is re-awakening our citizenry to what America is really about and what brought us and to that end these sorrys in both parties must become aware that they are on notice.
CITIZENS’ NEED FOR A GUTCHECK WITH REALITY
There is absolutely nothing more harmful to Americans and our way of life than our own complacency and refusal to pay attention to how our elected officials vote on very important issues. That’s the simple truth about why we have the paltry state of affairs in our government that we do today. We are solely responsible for the government we have been getting because we have been too trusting, flat out un-involved and utterly clueless about how the Establishment and LOBBYI$T$ led folks we’ve elected do what they wish, which generally hasn’t had that much to do with what they should be doing for us by following our Constitution.
WHAT WE MUST DO!
There’s a very simple way of identifying which elected representatives need replacing in our Idaho statehouse and in Congress in Washington. You study The Freedom Indexes for both bodies which shows exactly how they vote with criteria in keeping with Federal and State Constitutions and then cull the bad ones at the voting box. Here in Idaho The Freedom Index is at IdahoFreedomIndex.com published by ‘The Idaho Freedom Foundation.’ Since the legislature is currently in session, go over on the right side of the page and click on 2016 to see the most recent index completed.
For the U.S. Congress see The Freedom Index at The New American.com/freedom-index “A Congressional Scorecard Based on the U.S. Constitution” rates congressmen based on their adherence to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements. In this fourth and final 6 month session of the 114th Congress just completed, abysmally our congressmen and senators in Washington, D.C. voted with the Constitution 34% of the time. So there you see now why we are where we are.
Don’t count on a thing politicians say, only believe what you see and judge them on how they vote! Then do your part in draining the swamp by culling them at the ballot box and replace them with Constitutional following patriots that understand the importance of upholding the oaths they swear to when they are elected.
I’ve said before that I don’t believe any polls, especially now in this acknowledged world of Fake News. However, four issues surfacing in the news lately regarding President-Elect Donald Trump’s positions are very disconcerting.
1. UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS
This sure sounds like single payer or Government insurance, if you will. The Government runs nothing well! I find it hard to believe that he would let someone schmooze him into this insane ‘simple fix.’ Is he losing his mind? I think not, but I do think he’s too eager to ‘fix’ this. I am concerned about who he is too trusting of for advice. He has bragged about knowing very talented people in New York who are experts on many issues.
Does he not realize that many of them are members of the deceitful Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and what they are really about? See: “Who the ‘Establishment’ Really Is,” which reveals the CFR’s intentions to steer the US into a World Government.
The best answer to health care is to encourage the states to allow all insurance companies to compete in their states. Donald Trump should understand that nothing succeeds like free enterprise competition and the further removed the government is from it the better. Saul Alinsky’s Doctrine: ‘8 Steps To Topple A Nation And Create A Socialist State‘ listed as No. 1. Healthcare — Control healthcare and you control the people
2. 35% TARIFFS ON IMPORTS ARE ALWAYS INFLATIONARY
Manufacturer’s and all businesses for that matter technically really never pay taxes since taxes are just another line item expense that is factored into their costing equation toward profitability. All taxes are reflected in pricing and tariffs will cause inflationary higher prices. That’s a fact. Just the same as higher minimum wages cause layoffs and higher prices. The sole purpose of a business is to make a profit and accountability must reign or businesses suffer or die.
Trump’s tariff threats are a starting point for negotiations and that can be effective. However, picking winners and losers such as subsidizing companies with enticing land deals and tax cuts such as his partner/VP Elect, and sitting Governor Mike Pence was able to pull off with Carrier Air Conditioning, using the citizens of Indiana’s tax money is a big mistake and very unfair to competitors! It was effective in getting attention and maybe a ball rolling, but enough of this financial nonsense and violations of our Constitutions, federal and state. Nothing should be subsidized. Get on with the tax cuts and eliminating business strangulating regulations.
3. TRUMP: “DO YOU WANT A CONSERVATIVE OR DO YOU WANT SOMEBODY WHO MAKES GREAT DEALS?”
Define conservative. We want someone who understands his oath of office, our Constitution and upholds them. That’s a conservative, and that’s what we need. Great deals can still be made by a conservative by cutting taxes, eliminating the hell out of business killing regulations, and wasteful, expensive, whole federal bureaucracies and agencies with employees making more than the private sector. Then, that conservative should play hardball with other countries that overly tax our goods, as well as those that don’t have our costing for such as clean water and clean air control in their prices. In those cases, yes, we do charge them more taxes causing their prices to rise in America.
4. REP. RYAN ZINKE IS THE WRONG MAN FOR INTERIOR SECRETARY
Quoting Wendy Davis from her article in the Gem State Patriot, ‘Dear President-Elect Trump & Transition Team: Rethink Zinke,’ “Congressman Zinke was elected to serve 100% of Montana’s population; however, his decisions strongly favor less than 5% of Montana residents, and expand tribal jurisdiction over non-tribal Montana citizens’ protections, property and civil rights. This has created significant job-loss, economic harm to local counties, towns, and school districts that host Indian reservations, and serious confiscation of state waters and natural resources for the direct benefit to Indian tribes, and direct loss to the State of Montana, its farmers, cattlemen, business and industry.
“Nothing within the four corners of the U.S. Constitution includes tribal governance, tribal sovereignty or any aspect of federal Indian policy. Congress has power over Indian commerce, not Indian tribes. Justice Clarence Thomas put a powerful challenge out to his colleagues on the Bench, and to Congress. Here are his clear words:
“Congress purported [alleged] Plenary Power [all-encompassing] over Indian tribes rest on even shakier foundations. No enumerated power—not Congress’ power to “regulate Commerce… with Indian Tribes,” not the Senate’s role in approving treaties, nor anything else—gives Congress such sweeping authority… And, until the Court rejects the fiction that Congress possesses plenary power over Indian affairs, our precedents will continue to be based on the paternalistic theory that Congress must assume all-encompassing control over the “remnants of a race” for its own good. [Emphasis added]” — Justice Clarence Thomas, U.S. v. Bryant, No. 15-420, U.S. Supreme Court, 06-13-2016
“Terms like—aboriginal rights and time immemorial—are political propaganda. Anything pre-constitutional or extra-constitutional is unconstitutional…or we have no Constitution. The Constitutional priority tree of sovereignty goes like this:
State sovereignty (remember the States created the federal government).
Federal sovereignty (enumerated (limited) powers).
“Why is the Constitution turned on its head, and why are federal, state and local elected officials, including Congressman Zinke, so persuaded that tribal sovereignty is now superior to all other sovereignty in this country? Follow the money and follow political correctness. No elected official wants to be called “racist.” No elected official wants to be taken out of office by a tribally funded challenger.
“Across the Western States our federal senators, state legislators, county commissioners—too many behave as though their primary allegiance is to tribal governments. The federal “trust” relationship with Indian tribes created by the Supreme Court (1823-1830) may never supplant the trust relationship that every elected official takes to the U.S. Constitution, including specifically the first eleven Amendments forged to protect every American citizen.”
TRUMP IS THE RIGHT MAN NEEDING THE RIGHT ADVICE
I am all for President Elect Donald J. Trump and I know he is human and will make some mistakes. But these four issues are not the mistakes he should make. I know he wants to do right. If given factual information and sage Constitutional advice he more than likely will. But with all the information overload he has to be experiencing and some of the people he might be too trusting of, such as who it was that has recommended Rep. Zinke, I worry for him and America.
THE CON-CON ISSUE IS THE BIGGEST THREAT THAT CAN TAKE DOWN AMERICA OVERNIGHT!
Sure things are a mess, because elected officials have gotten away from what brought us and what we are really about. A nation of limited government, with the people shouldering most responsibilities themselves. We are not supposed to be socialists and that’s where our majority of legislators have been taking us. They must ‘Patriot Up,’ do their hard work and do right by their oaths to the Constitution and our state Constitutions and their grandchildren.
Adherence to, enforcement and prosecution of laws are what we need. Not new laws that are also ignored.
One could argue that in the current political climate, with the Legislative and the Executive branches controlled by “conservatives” there’s no need to call for a Con-Con for the purpose of adding conservative amendments. Changes can be made the slow but sure, safe and secure way. And the progressives’ intentions will be exposed by their increased efforts in spite of this (or because of this).
OVERVIEW OF TOPICS
ALL THAT COUNTS IS A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF ONLY TWO THINGS:
A RUNAWAY CONVENTION CAN NOT BE PREVENTED!
THE BEST CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERTS
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA
ON THE BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT PROPOSAL:
THE NEW BBA CON-CON THREAT
THE ACTUAL CON-CON MOTIVES
CON-CON PROPONENTS PULL OUT THE BIG GUNS
IDAHO’S WISE NEIGHBORS
AN AWAKENING FOR UNINFORMED GOOD PEOPLE
SOROS UMBRELLA OF HUNDRED’S OF ALLIANCES
THE TRUE PURPOSE OF ARTICLE V
REVEALING FACTS ON APPLICATIONS AND RESCISSIONS
Considering an Article V Constitutional Convention, let whoever’s ‘Constitutional Experts’ argue till the cows come home over authority on issues, rules, credentials, and delegate selecting etc. (Congress or the States). It’s all almost minutia in the big picture.
ALL THAT MATTERS IS A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF ONLY TWO THINGS!
A VERY SIMPLE QUESTION – Why should we believe that Congress would magically follow new laws any more than present laws? Few state legislatures seem to realize that our nation’s disastrous budget deficits had accrued out of disregard for constitutional restraints in the first place. Had government been held only to its constitutionally authorized activities, no budget crisis could have developed.
RATIFICATION REALITY – You can count on this! A Constitutional Convention would not risk sending their results to 38 state legislators for ratification since Article V’s option (Ratifying Conventions) offers such a failsafe alternative. (Factoid: Utah’s legislature would never have repealed Prohibition. A Ratifying Convention repealed it.) Ratifying in State legislatures would be entirely too perilous with endless debate, filibustering, committee assignments, legal challenges etc. into ad nauseum multiplied times 38. No. They would send Convention results to hand-selected delegates at Ratifying Conventions who would probably be like-minded baggage carrying chumps in the world of American patriotism.
A RUNAWAY CONVENTION CAN NOT BE PREVENTED!
Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren Berger issued a stern warning: ‘Nobody tells a Con Con what to do. Its powers to propose Amendments are unlimited. In light of this information, does America, do you, really want to risk a convention?
“Whatever gain might be hoped for from a new Constitutional Convention could not be worth the risk involved. A new convention could plunge our Nation into constitutional confusion and confrontation at every turn, with no assurance that focus would be on the subject needing attention. I have discouraged the idea of a Constitutional Convention, and I am glad to see states rescinding their previous resolutions requesting a convention.”
Similar views come from Former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Arthur J. Goldberg who said: “A few people have asked, ‘Why not another Constitutional Convention?’ I would respond by saying that one of the most serious problems Article V poses is a runaway convention. There is no enforceable mechanism to prevent a convention from reporting out wholesale changes to our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Moreover, the absence of any mechanism to ensure representative selection of delegates could put a runaway convention in the hands of single-issue groups whose self-interest may be contrary to our national well-being.”
Justice Goldberg is not the only imminent legal scholar to be concerned about a runaway convention. The late Rex E. Lee, former law school professor and later President of Brigham Young Universityhas written: “In short, if the question is whether a runaway convention is assured, the answer is no, but if the question is whether it is a real and serious possibility, the answer is yes. In our history, we have only one experience with a Constitutional Convention, and while the end result was good, the convention itself was a definite runaway.”
THE BEST CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERTS
Beware of false Constitutionalist. The Federalist Papers are not government documents. Our Constitution reigns.
Read Article V. It’s very short, explicit and again does not connote a single issue ability. The Single Issue pitch cannot be guaranteed, the Con-Con can deal with whatever and as many issues as it wishes.
The topics to which a convention is to be limited are always designed to be appealing. America’s leading jurists and legal scholars however, agree that Legislatures have no authority to tell a convention what subjects it will address in a convention. See video: Change It or Obey It? — Why the Constitution is the Solution
Quoting the late Twin Falls, ID former assistant attorney general for the state of Idaho and practicing attorney, George Detweiler:“United States Supreme Court Justices and the nation’s leading legal scholars have written privately that these single subject limitations cannot be enforced, that if a convention is called it will be free to propose any kind and number of Amendments to the same effect as if the limitations in the applications did not exist. In other words, although the applications are effective, all such limitations must be ignored.”
Former Chief Justice of the United States Warren Berger also wrote: “I have also repeatedly given my opinion that there is no effective way to limit or muzzle the actions of a Constitutional Convention. The convention could make its own rules and set its own agenda. Congress might try to limit the convention to one amendment or to one issue, but there is no way to assure that the convention would obey. After a convention is convened it will be too late to stop the convention if we don’t like its agenda.”
Of the same mind the late Charles Allen Wright, Professor of Law at the University of Texas at Austin. He wrote: “I feel quite certain that even opening the door to the possibility of a Constitutional Convention would be a tragedy for the country.”
In addressing the ineffectiveness of any legislature trying to limit a convention to a Balanced Budget Amendment Christopher Brown, retired Professor of Law at the University of Maryland wrote: “In my view the plurality of ‘Amendments’ opens the door to Constitutional change far beyond merely requiring a Balanced Federal Budget.”
Bluntly put, the late Professor Gunther, Professor of Law at Stanford University declared that State Legislators have applied to Congress for a Balanced Budget Convention without knowing what they are doing. “Having been misled and manipulated by special interest lobbyists, a small minority of legal scholars believe that a single issue convention can be called. To support their position Con-Con proponents point to these scholars and ignore the majority view. But the very existence of such substantial diversity of opinion among these scholars renders the dangers of a convention very real.
“I cannot support so irresponsible an invocation of constitutional processes.”
“The abject silliness of this argument is instantaneously apparent. There are no reports of any scholar or university having lost any of their grants in the process of balancing the budget.”
The fear that a constitutional convention could become a ‘runaway’ convention and propose wholesale changes in our Constitution is by no means unfounded. Rather, this broad view of the authority of a convention reflects the consensus of most constitutional scholars who have commented on the issue.
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA
Quoting Christian Gomez’s article ‘Justice Scalia’s Warning of a Constitutional Convention’in The New American.com: “During the question-and-answer session following a speech Scalia gave to the Federalist Society in Morristown, New Jersey, on May 8, 2015, he was asked whether a constitutional convention would be in the nation’s interest.
“‘A constitutional convention is a horrible idea,’ Scalia replied. ‘This is not a good century to write a constitution.’
“Although COS would have one believe that a constitutional convention is a ‘different creature entirely‘ from an Article V convention or ‘convention of the states,’ as they call it, this is simply not true.” – These were Justice Scalia’s most recent stated views.
ON THE BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT PROPOSAL:
Regarding a balanced budget amendment, do you realize that there is no standard Balanced Budget Amendment? It will be formulated in a convention.
The BBA scheme allows Congress to spend money on anything, no matter how unconstitutional, so long as the amount does not exceed the limits set in Section 2 of the BBA.
Can a budget be balanced if the Federal Reserve is not part of the process?
Can a budget be balanced if off-budget items are not included? (Such as the U.S. Postal Service, Social Security, Medicare, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, ObamaCare, etc.)
Proponents state that even though the federal government “is spending this country into the ground,” the best way to stop this abuse of power is to add new restrictions to those already included in the original contract (the Constitution) that forbid this type of overreach.
Those of us opposing an Article V convention, however, believe that the best way to stop the federal government’s constant disregard of constitutional limits on its power is for states (the principals) to enforce those limits.
We realize that the federal government will treat any new amendment restricting its authority the same way they treat those already in the contract.
Despite the MILLION$ being spent by the various factions of the Article V to ensure that a convention takes place, there is yet time for concerned Americans with a better grasp of history and constitutional construction to speak up and prevent this from happening.
We cannot afford to entrust the future of our Constitution to a group of people who make blatantly incorrect statements about the power of an Article V convention and the history behind the adoption of our current Constitution.
THE NEW BBA CON-CON THREAT
As Larry Greenly states in his September article “The New BBA Con-Con Threat” in The New American magazine, “This is not to say that having a balanced federal budget would be a bad idea; on the contrary balanced budgets should be the norm and striven for in all but truly emergency situations, such as when Congress has declared war. However, the fact remains that a BBA would not address the real problem of multitudes of usurpations of powers by officials in all branches of the federal government. Moreover, a BBA would tend to legitimize these usurpations by focusing on the goal of balancing the budget and ignoring the problem of widespread usurpations. Furthermore, it must be emphasized that if the federal government would only follow the Constitution, then the budget would easily be brought into balance.”
THE ACTUAL CON-CON MOTIVES
The reason given for these clarion calls for all these Con-Con ‘agendas’ is always the same and that is that Congress is awash with stalemate (actually generated by machine politics of each party, orchestrated by The Council on Foreign Relations, making it impossible to fix things in this incredibly complex, frustrating world of intense politics). It is by design. We are told to believe that somehow, if we will just call a Constitutional Convention and adopt whatever issue that particular injustice will right, that the same inept and corrupt Congress will all of a sudden change their ways and start following new rules like never before.
Many legislators just cannot get through their influenced minds what the many calls for a Con-Con are really all about. Are they smitten with the lobbyists’ trappings and money? These originating forces for the many different Con-Cons are very devious people, with a hidden agenda for our future, and their LOBBYI$T ORGANIZATIONS are extremely skilled at influencing the foolish, naïve, over trusting and those on the take.
Note that most states have strict rules about balanced budgets or have passed balanced-budget amendments, yet almost none have balanced budgets. We don’t need amendments to save our Republic; we need renewed commitment to the Constitution — as written — and to the timeless principles of self-government and republicanism that undergird it.
CON-CON PROPONENTS PULL OUT THE BIG GUNS
Last year the John Birch Society (JBS) reported, “Some constitutional convention (Con-Con) proponents have stooped to a new low: spreading the false rumor that George Soros is financing the JBS’s “Choose Freedom –Stop a Con-Con” action project. Unfortunately, this false rumor has helped turn the battle in at least one state (New Hampshire). And it’s starting to be used elsewhere.
“First of all, where is the proof? All of our top donors are members. Second, The Young Turks, which is behind Wolf PAC, is a paid member of George Soros’ Media Consortium network of progressive left-wing independent media. Wolf PAC is actively and aggressively promoting an Article V Convention! So Soros is indirectly involved in promoting an Article V Convention through Wolf PAC.
“The proponents are running scared! They have rallied supporters and increased staff activity of the organizations supporting the Con-Con in the wake of our members shutting down the Con-Con resolutions in the State of Virginia. Think about that: Virginia is the home state of at least one of the biggest Con-Con promoters!
“Plus, this is close to Washington, DC and it gave a wake-up call to all those in the vicinity of the Capital who are for a Con-Con to get busy. They have realized that for all of their committed efforts and money: they could lose.”
Con-Con proponents have been unable to mount a successful challenge to the overpowering logic of the majority view that a Con-Con cannot be limited to a single issue. Driven by desperation, they have attacked the integrity of Constitutional scholars by accusing them of bias and falsely accuse them of intellectual dishonesty.”
IDAHO’S WISE NEIGHBORS
Last year the wise legislators of neighboring states ‘Patrioted Up’: Montana defeated 3 applications for Con-Cons: SJ7 – Convention of the States and HJ3 – Wolf PAC were both killed in committees and HJ4 – Compact for a Balanced Federal Budget was voted down 77 – 23. Utah defeated HJR 3 – The Countermand Amendment and HJR 14 – Convention of the States. And Wyoming stopped SJR4 Convention of the States, HJR 4 Balanced Federal Budget (BBA) failed in the Senate committee and HB75 Compact for America (CFA), Compact for a Balanced Budget (CFBB) failed in Senate committee.
These proponents of the many efforts to open the door to a Con-Con are dogged and we in Idaho are once again in their cross hairs. You must consider their true hunger and authentic motives and from whence comes their seemingly unending big money backing. It really isn’t about a BBA, it’s about opening the door to an Article V Constitutional Convention.
AN AWAKENING FOR UNINFORMED GOOD PEOPLE
Quoting Joe D. Wolverton, II, JD of The New American magazine in his article ‘Socialists and Soros Fight for Article V Convention,’ “There is another uncomfortable aspect of the Article V movement that is not being discussed, however, but needs to be, particularly in light of the good people who have associated themselves with it.
“Within the ranks of those clamoring for an Article V convention are found numerous extremely radical, progressive, and socialist organizations that otherwise would have little in common with the conservatives fighting on the same side.
“Wolf-Pac is one of the groups that this reporter suspects many Mark Levin listeners would be surprised to know is their compatriot in a call for a Con-Con.
“On its website, Wolf-Pac pushes for an Article V “Convention of the States” as the best way to accomplish its “ultimate goal:”
“To restore true democracy in the United States by pressuring our State Representatives to pass a much needed 28th Amendment to our Constitution which would end corporate personhood and publicly finance all elections in our country.
“In order to persuade Americans to join its cause, Wolf-Pac will:
“inform the public by running television commercials, radio ads, social media, internet ads, and using the media platform of the largest online news show in the world, The Young Turks.
“The Young Turks? Most constitutionalists (and I imagine most fans of Mark Levin) don’t spend much time during the day watching the Young Turks, the YouTube-based news and entertainment channel that dubs itself the “world’s largest online news network.”
“As unfamiliar as they may be with the Young Turks, it seems certain conservatives pushing for a con-con are even more unfamiliar with who pays the bills at this online purveyor of progressive ideology: George Soros (shown). Dan Gainor reports:
“In fact, Soros funds nearly every major left-wing media source in the United States. Forty-five of those are financed through his support of the Media Consortium. That organization ‘is a network of the country’s leading, progressive, independent media outlets.’ The list is predictable — everything from Alternet to the Young Turks.
“That’s right. George Soros — the financier of global fascism — is pumping millions of dollars into the same Article V campaign that is being promoted by Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and other popular conservative spokesmen.
“What will those in Wolf-Pac do if they are able to get “their amendment” proposed and accepted by an Article V convention?
“Celebrate the fact that we had the courage and persistence [sic] to accomplish something truly amazing and historic together.”
“Anything a group with this anti-constitutional agenda would do to our Constitution would certainly be historic — in the worst way.
“This should be enough to convince all true conservatives, constitutionalists, and friends of liberty to run headlong away from the ranks of the Article V con-con army, regardless of how popular and persuasive their generals may be.
SOROS UMBRELLA OF HUNDRED’S OF ALLIANCES
“It will likely surprise these devoted, but deluded, Article V advocates that Wolf-Pac is just the tip of the iceberg. These good people would be wise to take a look at this heavily abbreviated roster of their radical fellow travelers in the con-con movement, each of which is a registered “founding member” of the “Move to Amend” coalition.
Alliance for Democracy
Center for Media and Democracy
Code Pink
Independent Progressive Politics Network
Progressive Democrats of America
Sierra Club
Vermont for Single Payer
“Mind you, hundreds more groups “committed to social and economic justice, ending corporate rule, and building a vibrant democracy” are gathered under this umbrella.
“This hardly seems to be a corps that most Levin listeners would be happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with in the fight for a “convention of the states.” In fairness, these allies likely don’t share their conservative cohorts’ love and loyalty to the Constitution.
“It’s time these right-minded men and women know with whom they are associating.
“It’s doubtful that Mark Levin’s legion of listeners would be as eager to get behind his Article V con-con agenda if they knew whom they were fighting beside and how radically their new allies want to change our beloved Constitution.
“And that’s the problem. Regardless of the soothing words of Levin or others in the con-con camp, they cannot guarantee the outcome of such a convention. In fact, in light of the lists of leftist groups provided above, the results of the convention could be an outright scrapping of the Constitution written by the Founders in favor of one more in line with the progressive ideologies of Wolf-Pac, the Sierra Club, Code Pink, and others.
“Remember, according to the history of Article V-style conventions, regardless of any state or congressional legislation requiring them to consider only one amendment (a balanced budget amendment, for example), the delegates elected to the convention would possess unlimited, though not unprecedented, power to propose revisions to the existing Constitution, based on the inherent right of the People in convention to alter or revise their government.
“The mind boggles at the potential proposals that could come out of a convention composed of such radical representatives.
“Don’t forget, George Soros’s billions are funding these fringe groups and politicians aren’t known for their ability to resist hefty campaign contributions.
“Conservatives should shudder at the specter of a convention endowed with power of this magnitude, populated by activists who have a Soros credit card in their pocket and a commitment to “social justice” as their purpose. All the good intentions of the conservatives in the Article V camp would not be enough to force all these devastating changes to the Constitution back inside the progressive Pandora’s Box.
“Readers are encouraged to click the links provided in this article and to investigate for themselves the agenda of the various Article V advocates and to determine if it’s worth the risk to our Constitution that would be posed by the presence of these groups in the “convention of the states.”
“Finally, the startling information set out in this article is not meant as an attack on Mark Levin or anyone else working to call a “convention of the states.” Rather, it is intended to help the thousands of committed constitutionalists who find themselves believing in the Article V gospel he’s preaching to realize who’s sitting in the pews with them and whose money built the church.” – Unquote Joe D. Wolverton, II, JD
THE TRUE PURPOSE OF ARTICLE V
Applications for a convention are serious business only to be used if a Legislature believes that the present Constitution is structurally flawed and in need of repair. An unbalanced Federal Budget is not the result of a Constitutional Flaw. It is the result of a Congress which refuses to obey Constitutional restraints upon its spending of Federal Funds.
The reason for these clarion calls for all these Con-Con ‘agendas’ is always the same and that is that Congress is awash with stalemate (actually generated by machine politics of each party, orchestrated by The Council on Foreign Relations, making it impossible to fix things in this incredibly complex, frustrating world of intense politics). It is by design. We are told to believe that somehow, if we will just call a Constitutional Convention and adopt whatever issue that particular injustice will right, that that same inept and corrupt Congress will all of a sudden change their ways and start following new rules like never before.
Many legislators cannot get through their influenced minds what the many calls for a Con-Con are really all about? Or, are they smitten with the lobbyists’ trappings and money? These originating forces for the many different Con-Cons are very devious people, with a hidden agenda for our future, and their LOBBYI$T ORGANIZATION$ are extremely skilled at influencing the foolish, naïve, over trusting and those on the take.
REVEALING FACTS ON APPLICATIONS AND RESCISSIONS
You should know that since applications have been recorded and tracked there have been over 400 various applications for an Article V convention. See most of them at FOAVC, and be dumbfounded that these proponents are still at it. And for so many different calls.
Since applications have been recorded and tracked, 49 of the 50 states have at one or more times filed for an Article V Convention. Idaho has been listed for calls 6 times all the way back to 1910 and a most recent rescission in 1999.
Since 1988, 17 states have rescinded all of their constitutional convention calls. Rescinded Con-Con calls: AL 1988, LA 1990, OR 1999, ID 1999, UT 2001, ND 2001, AZ 2003, VA 2004, SC 2004, GA 2004, MT, 2007, OK 2009, WY 2009, NH 2010, SD 2010, and TN 2010. *Actually FL had rescinded its Con-Con calls in 1988, but passed a new BBA Con-Con call in 2010.
Given the numbers of applications it’s amazing that we’ve been blessed with forthright rescissions prevailing in most instances due to awakening to the reality of the fatal danger a Con-Con would pose to our Constitution once it’s called.
In summation, we don’t have a Constitution problem. We have an adherence problem. The ‘fix’ is following law, law enforcement, prosecution and nullification (see: The Nullification Alternative). Nullification is the real serious effort that would surely work and needs being done.
Citizens direct the fix by educating ourselves, informing others, watching Freedom Index voting records for Washington, DC and the Idaho Freedom Indexfor voting records for Idaho and culling the vermin at the polls.
“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”
— Abraham Lincoln
See following additional links for more information you can count on from The New American.com: