May state legislative applications limit an Article V convention? Subject, yes; specific language, probably not
Some constitutional scholars believe state applications for a convention for proposing amendments may limit the convention to voting “yes” or “no” on a specifically-worded amendment. A prescribed-wording application, they say, reduces the fear of a “runaway” convention and places the state legislatures in the equal position with Congress that Article V of the Constitution was […]
Why We Must Act Now To Use the Constitution’s Amendment Process to Restore Fiscal Sanity
Following is an address I gave in Orlando Florida on April 26, 2013 on the need to use the Constitution’s Convention-Amendment Process to rein in Congress: My initial background was in the private sector, but I served many years in academia. I spent much of that time teaching constitutional law and constitutional history to aspiring […]
New Issue Paper on the Interstate Threat of the anti-TABOR Lawsuit
As regular readers of this site know, a group of plaintiffs representing government interests has sued the State of Colorado, claiming that the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) in the state constitution violates the U.S. Constitution. Even though the claim is an exceptionally weak one, last year a federal district court allowed it to proceed. […]
Constitutional Arcana: The Forgotten Navigation Convention of 1786
In an earlier post, I reported that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was far from unique: that during the lifetime of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) nearly 20 inter-colonial and interstate conventions met. Some were attended by as few as three colonies or states; others by as many as 12. These multi-governmental conventions were held in Philadelphia […]
The U.S. Budget Situation is Worse than Even You Imagined
Last week, Senator John Kerry (D.-Mass) was unhappy with a Republican plan to cut as much as $61 billion out of the federal budget. “I think it’s an ideological, extremist, reckless statement,” Kerry said of the plan. I hadn’t kept up on all the numbers recently, so I took a look at President Obama’s 2012 […]
How to amend the Constitution safely and without Congress — according to the Founders
“How to” Issue Papers on obtaining needed constitutional amendments without the consent of Congress.
