Sunday, January 10, 2016

TX: Governor Abbott Calls on States to Amend U.S. Constitution



In a fresh — but long shot — assertion of states’ rights, Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday called for a convention of U.S. states to pass nine new amendments to the U.S. Constitution, measures meant to limit the powers of the federal government.

The amendments would require a balanced U.S. budget and prohibit Congress from regulating any activity “that occurs wholly within one state,” a category some conservatives say includes gun use and marriage. The amendments would also allow states to override federal laws or U.S. Supreme Court decisions if two-thirds of them disagreed and require a seven-justice supermajority for U.S. Supreme Court decisions that invalidate any law passed by state or federal legislators.

When Texas lawmakers meet in 2017, the governor will ask them to approve the constitutional convention — one that would have to be agreed to by other states to actually occur. In 2015, a similar bill passed the Texas House but ultimately died in a Senate committee.

“When measured by how far we have strayed from the Constitution we originally agreed to, the government’s flagrant and repeated violations of the rule of law amount to a wholesale abdication of the Constitution’s design,” Abbott wrote in the 90-page proposal, which he was set to announce in a 1 p.m. speech before the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
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2 comments:

Angry Armed Old White Man said...

A Constitutional Convention is nothing but a CON-CON.

There is NO constitutional nor legal way to limit the actions taken at a Constitutional Convention.

While the goal(s) of such a meeting might be laudable, unexpected - and undesirable - results can occur. All manners of havoc can ensue.

While there are Constitutional safeguard (states need to vote on amendments, other procedures, etc), are you REALLY willing to take the chance that your 2A Rights - among others - might be voted away? Are you REALLY willing to risk all-out, full Civil War over this?

A Constitutional Convention is nothing but a CON job. Just tell your representatives to just say NO. Enforce the Constitution and the Bill or Rights just as they are.

Anonymous said...

This is an issue being discussed on several blogs. I see it as a very serious trap that most people do not understand or comprehend. It is one thing to have a state constitutional convention, it is a completely different situation to have a national constitutional convention. the original constitutional convention gave us our current constitution. the results of new convention would have to be ratified and that second constitution would completely replace our existing constitution as the federalist papers were nullified when our current constitution was ratified. What many do not understand is a constitutional convention opens up the entire constitution for a total rewrite. allowing any thing to be changed. there is no citizen control of a national constitutional convention. several ideas have been floated that just can not work. a convention is a convention. the results of the convention require ratification, everything that existed before the new constitution is ratified is made null and void, Constitutional conventions do not get called to and or repeal amendment. New constitutions are complete as written and no amendments exist. amendments are not needed to complete the constitution the constitution is complete as presented for ratification. Amendments are only added after the constitution is ratified. the bill of rights was added two years after the current constitution was ratified. amendments 11 thru 27 came years after the bill of rights, the first ten amendments. do you understand the problem?