Convention Of States: Are Our Legislators This Ignorant?

A LESSON ON GIVING AWAY YOUR VOTE:

ARE OUR LEGISLATORS REALLY THIS IGNORANT

We sometimes wonder why those we elect to represent us make such bad decisions. We always seem to send highly educated individuals to offices to represent us and we assume that because of their education that they are intelligent. That is the mistake the voters will make time and again. Just because they have a degree beside their name doesn’t mean they have the one vital element to make them intelligent. That one vital element is common sense. Ladies and gentlemen, it is glaringly absent in the Chamber of the Oklahoma State Senate and we shall show that here tonight.

What prompted our look into this story was an article from the www.muskogeepolitico.com which you can read here. Now there has been an attempt to get an Article 5 Convention of the States ongoing for several years now. We don’t consider even the remote possibility that they have the right to do so. What we question is the political climate in which they want to bring one up. We doubt that anyone would disagree that these are politically dangerous times in our great nation. We ask is it really the time to bring an untested, untried format of changing our Constitution to a convention where the only guidance given is that the Congress shall call for it? We think not.

We can’t begin to understand why, but the Oklahoma State Senate chose to word it’s resolution, which you can see here, in a way that covers one topic. We agree that it is a serious topic, but there are other equally serious topics that need to be addressed. They rightfully indicated that such resolutions have been passed by one side of the legislature or another since 1976. We must ask why they are taking such a dangerous action at this time.

We know that the state Senate is capable of using a little common sense. They proved that when they decided not to take up SB-13, as reported here. Although we supported this legislation, it would have cost the state millions in legal fees to defend it. With the subject being heard at the U. S. Supreme Court in the near future, it was prudent to wait until their decision before making the step in this direction for now.

Now many of you may ask what a Convention of the States is. Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution allows for the amendment of the Constitution through two ways. We found this explanation in Wikipedia. It is by far an accurate description. It simply states “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by Congress, provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article, and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.”

As you can see, the Congress of the United States still has a modicum of control over any Convention of the States. As bitter and divided as we are as a nation right now, how do you think that will turn out.

We went looking for what was behind the call for a Convention of the States and found  this article from the New York Times. It’s a convincing article saying the resurgence of the Republican Party was driving the movement forward. We found that to be only partially true. The financing behind it was coming from primarily liberal organizations. Where they touched upon the truth was in the article where they stated “But as the groups near their goal, critics and some skeptical constitutional scholars are warning that holding an amendment writing meeting with no historical parallel and no written rules could open a Pandora’s box of constitutional mischief.” They are correct. Who truly knows what would happen in a Convention of the States.

There is another item closer to home that cause us to question the intellect of the Oklahoma State Senate. That is  Article 24 Section 2 of the Oklahoma State Constitution. It reads as follows “Constitutional Convention to Propose Amendments or New Constitution No convention shall be called by the legislature to propose alterations, revisions, or amendments to this Constitution, or to propose a new Constitution, unless, the law providing for such convention shall be approved by the people on a referendum vote at a regular or special election, and any amendments, alterations, revisions, or new Constitution, proposed by such convention, shall be submitted to the electors of the state at a general or special election and approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon, before the same shall become effective: Provided, That the question of such proposed convention shall be submitted to the people at least once every twenty years.”

Now we do recall the last time the question was put to the vote of the people. That was way back in 1974. We don’t have a lot of trust in the integrity and intelligence of a group of overpaid part time employees who demand to be called Senators to lead us into something like a Convention of the States when they clearly haven’t got the foggiest idea what their own state Constitution says.

A Constitutional Convention is an unproven mechanism for changing the Constitution. Contrary to what organizers believe, the Congress still holds sway. If you look at delegates, the liberal states will have far more delegates than others. Now is not the time to pick a fight we won’t win. If you enjoy your freedom and your liberty, call your House member and have him vote no on Senate Joint Resolution 41.