Weekly Opinion Editorial
A BAD IDEA
WHOSE TIME MAY HAVE COME!
by Steve
Fair
On Saturday morning, I got a call from
former U.S. Senator Tom Coburn. He told
me I had made a mistake in saying the Article Five issue would be voted on by
the people in November. The good Senator
was right- the Article Five convention does not require voter approval- just
the approval of the state legislature, which it received on April 27th.
Senate Joint Resolution, authored by Sen.
Rob Standridge, (R-Norman), and Rep. Gary Banz, (R-Midwest City) passed the
House 57-33 and the Senate 30-16.
Oklahoma became the seventh state to call for a Convention of the
States. The Joint Resolution calls for a
constitutional convention to propose amendments on the following topics: “impose fiscal restraints on the federal
government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and
limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress.”
Before
an Article Five convention can be called, 34 states must pass resolutions. Convention of States Action is a 501 (c) (4) nonprofit
out of Austin, Texas, that is organizing across the country to lobby
legislators to pass such resolutions. They
have made amazing progress in the past couple of years and more state
legislatures are expected to take up the Article Five issue in the next couple
of years.
The calling of an Article Five convention
has been one of the most divisive issues among Republicans in recent
memory. The primary reason is because
there has never been an Article Five convention to amend the constitution. All
twenty seven amendments to the constitution have been initiated by Congress. Because it has never been done, opponents of
an Article Five fear a runaway convention where not just term limits and a
balanced budget amendment are discussed, but fundamental liberties like the
second amendment could be placed in jeopardy.
Supporters of the Article Five are adamant
that safeguards will prevent a runaway convention and those who oppose are
unnecessarily fearful. The rules of the convention
are a big issue and the Assembly of State Legislatures (ASL) have been working
on proposed rules for an Article Five for the past eighteen months. They meet next week in Philadelphia to wrap
up their work on suggested rules for an Article Five. You can read a draft of the proposed rules on
their website- http://articlevcaucus.com.
Proponents of the Article Five include not
just Senator Coburn, but Texas Governor Greg Abbott, columnist George Will, the
late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Wallbuilders founder David Barton,
radio talk show host Mark Levin, and a multitude of other conservatives. Supporters also include liberal hedge fund
manager George Soros. That’s right- Soros
favors an Article Five, but not for addressed fiscal restraint and term
limits. Soros wants to call a convention
for the purpose of limiting the influence that money has over the
political process, aka campaign finance reform.
Those who oppose an Article
Five include conservative groups like Eagle Forum, the John Birch Society, Concerned
Women of America, the National Rifle Association, and Americans for Prosperity
and liberal groups like the ACLU and the AFL-CIO. They all oppose for the same reason- no guarantee
that a runaway convention wouldn’t happen.
Justice Scalia, a strict
constitutionalist and a hero of conservatives, said the reason the founders put
Article Five in the founding document was for just a time as this. “They
knew that Congress would be unwilling to give attention to many issues the
people are concerned with, particularly those involving restrictions on the
federal government’s own power. The
founders foresaw that and they provided the convention as a remedy. If the only way to get that convention is to
take this minimal risk, then it is a reasonable one.”
Among
conservatives you would be hard pressed to find one who doesn’t support a
balanced budget amendment and term limits- the very issues the Article Five is
charged to address. But they don’t
believe the Article Five is the vehicle to get it accomplished. They want Congress to address those issues,
but as time goes on, more conservatives are jumping on board because desperate
times require desperate measures.
Steven Hayward wrote in Forbes magazine in
2014; “An Article Five is a really bad idea and it’s probably time we give it a
try.” I am much closer to supporting an Article
Five than I was last year. I think most
conservatives are. Thanks Senator Coburn for your passion and love for our
country and for graciously allowing me to set the record straight on Oklahoma
and the Article Five. UPDATE: Louisiana passed an Article Five resolution, so now eight states have called for a Convention of the States.
No comments:
Post a Comment