Gov. Greg Abbott, aiming to spark a national conversation
about states’ rights, said Friday that he wants Texas to lead the call for a
convention to amend the U.S. Constitution and wrest power from a federal
government “run amok.”
* WE NEED MORE THAN A "CONVERSATION." THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS OUT OF CONTROL AND REPRESENTS A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER
TO EVERYTHING WE HOLD DEAR!
“If we are going to fight for, protect and hand on to the
next generation, the freedom that [President] Reagan spoke of … then we have to
take the lead to restore the Rule of Law in America,” Abbott said during a
speech at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Policy Orientation that drew
raucous applause from the conservative audience.
(*STANDING OVATION*)
He said he will ask lawmakers to pass a bill authorizing
Texas to join other states calling for a Convention of States.
(*CONTINUING TO STAND AND APPLAUD*)
Along with the speech, Abbott released a nearly 70-page
plan – part American civics lesson, part anti-Obama diatribe – detailing nine
proposed constitutional amendments that he said would unravel the federal
government’s decades-long power grab and restore authority over economic
regulation and other matters to the states.
* REPEAL THE 17TH AMENDMENT... RETURN TO THE FOUNDERS'
BLUE-PRINT... AND RE-WRITE THE 16TH AMENDMENT SO AS TO LIMIT FEDERAL TAXING
AUTHORITY. (OH... AND WE SHOULD GO BACK TO HIGH TARIFFS!)
“The irony for our generation is that the threat to our Republic doesn’t come just from foreign enemies, it comes, in part, from our very own leaders,” Abbott said in a speech that took aim at President Obama, Congress and the judicial branch.
* IS THIS GUY CHANNELING ME OR WHAT?!
The proposal for a convention, which has been gaining
traction among some among conservative Republicans, comes just as the GOP
presidential candidates begin to make forays into Texas ahead of the March
primary election. The state, with 155 delegates up for grabs, will certainly be
a key player in the party’s nominating process.
Abbott hasn’t endorsed a candidate, though the field
includes Sen. Ted Cruz, who was one of Abbott’s top employees when the governor
was attorney general. Abbott is likely hoping to boost his national profile
within the GOP as eyes turn to the state.
This week, presidential contender U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio,
R-Fla....
(*BOOING*)
...published a piece in USA Today endorsing the idea of a
convention to amend the Constitution and restore limited government. In April,
27 active petitions had been filed with Congress seeking a convention to amend
the constitution to require that Congress adopt a balanced budget.
* HEY... EVEN A BROKEN CLOCK GETS THE TIME RIGHT TWICE A
DAY! (BUT RUBIO STILL SUCKS!)
Congress would be forced to act once 34 states joined the
effort. So far, Cruz hasn’t endorsed the idea.
* HE SHOULD! I URGE HIM TO!
By this point, you may be wondering just what a
constitutional convention or Convention of the States is and why it would be a
big deal. A convention is one of two ways that the U.S. Constitution can be
amended, and it’s described in Article V. One way is that Congress can propose
amendments approved by two-thirds of the members of both chambers. The other
method allows two-thirds of the state legislatures to call for a convention to
propose amendments. Republicans backing the idea are confident that because
they control state government in a majority of states, their ideas would
prevail.
* AGAIN... I WANT THE FOUNDERS' IDEAS... AND THEIR
IDEALS... TO PREVAIL!
In both cases, the amendments become effective only if
ratified by three-fourths of the states.
So far, the U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times.
None of those were amendments generated by a constitutional convention.
Critics say there’s a good reason. In an editorial
lambasting Rubio’s plan, USA Today‘s editorial board warned that such a process
could invite mayhem...
* AS OPPOSED TO...?!?!
(*SMIRK*)
...and further poison the nation’s vitriolic political
scene.
* FOLKS. AMERICA IS BROKEN! WE ALL KNOW THIS! DESPERATE
TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES!
It would also raise unresolved questions about the
years-long process of ratification. And some conservatives who otherwise agree
with Abbott and Rubio on many issues fear a convention could lead to greater
restrictions on guns and money in politics and greater overall power for the
federal government.
* IF WE DO NOTHING... THE SLIDE CONTINUES.
(*SHRUG*)
Abbott, in his plan, dismisses many of those criticisms,
saying that he would call for a limited scope to the convention.
The plan lays out nine specific proposed amendments that
would:
1) Prohibit congress from regulating activity that occurs
wholly within one state.
2) Require Congress to balance its budget.
3) Prohibit administrative agencies from creating federal
law.
4) Prohibit administrative agencies from pre-empting
state law.
5) Allow a two-thirds majority of the states to override
a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
* OH! I LIKE THAT ONE!
6) Require a seven-justice super-majority vote for U.S.
Supreme Court decisions that invalidate a democratically enacted law.
(*WILD APPLAUSE; HOOTING, HOLLERING, AND WHISTLING*)
7) Restore the balance of power between the federal and
state governments by limiting the former to the powers expressly delegated to
it in the Constitution.
8) Give state officials the power to sue in federal court
when federal officials overstep their bounds.
* KINDA REDUNDANT WHEN YOU SCROLL BACK UP TO PROPOSALS
1,3, AND 4.
(*SHRUG*)
9) Allow a two-thirds majority of the states to override
a federal law or regulation.
* OOH! ANOTHER ONE I LIKE!
* AGAIN, THOUGH, FOLKS... WE MUST REPEAL THE 17TH
AMENDMENT AND RETURN TO THE FOUNDERS' WISE BLUE-PRINT...
A convention, Abbott wrote, would force the federal
government to “take the Constitution seriously again.”
“The only true downside comes from doing nothing and allowing the federal government to continue ignoring the very document that created it,” Abbott wrote.
James Henson, director of UT’s Texas Politics Project,
said Abbott’s posture aligns well with the prominent stream of thought in the
Republican Party that it is time to resuscitate state power as a check to the
federal government.
“I would find it fairly unlikely that this would get
traction on the national level,” Henson said. “On the other hand, it’s not the
first we’ve heard of this.”
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