#9951
Multiple ISIS-K suicide bombers were reportedly killed by a U.S. airstrike on Sunday. According to the AP, the airstrike on Sunday targeted a vehicle
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An Indiana teacher says administrators gave him three options at the end of this school year: refer to students as the opposite sex, resign, or be fired.
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The Senate confirmed eight of President Donald Trump’s nominees to federal district courts on Thursday with minimal pushback from lawmakers on just two of the president’s picks.
#9954
New York: Muslim indicted for death threats against SUNY professor Federal complaint against NYC jihad bomber omits his journal's references to the Islamic State
#9955
Last week, one of the most significant events in the history of our constitutional republic in our lifetime occurred: Delegations, consisting primarily of state legislators, from all 50 states gathered in Colonial Williamsburg with the intent to rein in the federal government’s abuse of power. An assembly of 137 delegates representing every state quietly convened in a simulation that, when convened officially, could effectively strip Washington of its purloined power overnight. Legally.
What’s this all about?
Article V of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and we’re all familiar with that process. It’s happened successfully 27 times in our nation’s history, and it’s how we’ve accomplished some important things, like ending slavery and guaranteeing women’s right to vote. But Article V also grants the same power to the states to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. That power hasn’t been exercised in American history — yet.
The reason this provision was added to the Constitution, just two days before the close of the 1787 convention, was a concern raised by George Mason. In keeping with the checks and balances of the Framers, Mason believed that no branch of government should have the power to determine the extent of its own power. He predicted that someday the federal government would abuse the carefully enumerated powers bestowed in the text of the Constitution. When that day arrived, structural amendments would be needed to curtail federal usurpations, but if Congress alone had the power to propose amendments, no corrections would ever be forthcoming. Based on this clear-headed observation, the Framers unanimously added the option for the states to propose amendments through a convention of states.
The U.S. Constitution is a grant of specific, limited powers to the federal government to fulfill its duty to preserve and protect individual rights and promote the “general welfare.” But the Founders recognized that the federal government might overstep and abuse those powers, and that it was highly unlikely Congress would then act to restrain itself. So the Founders also gave the states the power to convene together and propose amendments to the Constitution to restrain federal abuses, in what Article V calls a “convention” of the states.
Article V reads:
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 . . .
In other words, two-thirds (34) of the states pass an application for a convention to propose amendments, then the states choose their delegates, and whatever amendments are passed at that convention by the states still need to be ratified by the same process as any congressional amendment. Over the years, the states have enacted over 400 applications for a convention, but none has ever been called, because two-thirds of the states have never agreed on the subject matter for such a convention.
Several states have already called for a convention to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and impose term limits on federal officials.
It was this application that formed the framework for the convention-of-states simulation last week in Colonial Williamsburg. Every state sent delegates, who spent two days debating dozens of ideas for amendments under these general topics. The simulated convention passed significant amendment proposals on the following six ideas:
1. Requiring the states to approve any increase in the national debt2. Imposing term limits on Congress (effective retroactively)3. Limiting federal overreach by returning the Commerce Clause to its original meaning4. Limiting the power of federal regulations by allowing an easy congressional override5. Requiring a supermajority to impose federal taxes and repealing the 16th Amendment, which legalized the federal income tax6. Giving the states (by a three-fifths vote) the power to abrogate any federal law, regulation, or executive order
This is the Founders’ solution to Washington’s hunger for power and institutional corruption, and the states are rallying.
Other amendment proposals were discussed and debated, including term limits on the Supreme Court and giving the states the power to vacate a Supreme Court opinion. The simulation lasted only two days, but the real convention of states would have sufficient time to consider amendments and carefully craft final texts.
Importantly, the Convention does not have power (just as Congress does not have power) under Article V to rewrite or completely overhaul the U.S. Constitution, or propose amendments beyond the scope of the application passed through each state legislature. Two of the nation’s foremost constitutional attorneys have written extensively on the procedural safeguards of a convention of states, and this simulation showed exactly how and why it will work as a check on the federal government, exactly as intended.
This is the Founders’ solution to Washington’s hunger for power and institutional corruption, and the states are rallying. Going into the 2017 legislative sessions, eight states have passed the convention of states application and another 30 states have considered it.
We all need to pay attention to the states and the Convention of States Project. We may feel horribly frustrated at national-level politics and parties for dozens of reasons. But we have one very important reason to remain hopeful for the preservation of liberty — at the state level, the convention of states can and will happen. We can and should get involved in our states and help lobby our legislators to pass the application for a convention.
The future of our country doesn’t rest solely on the results in November. There is a much bigger and better solution in the U.S. Constitution itself — in Article V.
— Michael Farris is the co-founder of the Convention of States Project. He is a constitutional-law attorney, the chancellor of Patrick Henry College, and the chairman and general counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association. Jenna Ellis is a constitutional law attorney and a professor of legal studies at Colorado Christian University. She is the author of the book The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution and a fellow at the Centennial Institute.
#9956
Like most observers, The Nation’s Walsh expected that the voters who backed Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 would turn out for Hillary Clinton, whose presidency would safeguard Obama’s “political, social, and racial legacy.” Of course, countless expectations were dashed on November 8, when, as Walsh puts it, an “unexpected surge of white voters…took their country back from a black man [and] refused to hand it over to a liberal white woman.” In her piece, Walsh suggested that Obama hurt Hillary’s chances of winning pretty much by just being himself for eight years.
#9957
The Senate's mandatory sex harassment training resolution reveals a deep lack of morals in the ongoing retreat from Judeo-Christian beliefs and values.
#9958
On Monday, President Donald Trump visited Utah to announce the largest reductions to national monuments in U.S. history. His order will shrink two national monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante, by roughly 2 million acres in total. The decision has drawn the ire of environmental groups and Democratic legislators but has been applauded by Republican lawmakers and locals who want the land to remain open to multiple uses. Legal challenges to the action have already been filed ...
#9959
Senior U.S. officials hit back on Wednesday against suggestions that Donald Trump's "America First" agenda was hurting globalization and trade, setting an aggressive tone ahead of the U.S. president's visit to the World Economic Forum.
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday that the Justice Department will investigate potential abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
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SPOKANE, Wash. — A former NAACP leader in Washington state whose life unraveled after she was outed as a white woman pretending to be black has been charged with welfare fraud. News station KHQ-TV …
#9962
Professor: Europe's rise of the right is about survival and a natural reaction to the extreme violence of the left and globalist policies
#9963
Now At 164K?.That’s Christine Blasey Ford. This is absolutely disgusting?.and Yes. It’s real. As of writing this, the campaign already met their goal of $100,000. In fact, they’ve exceeded it. No telling how much she’ll rack up. So, WHY does she need money? Security. Help Support The Red Pill Pundit?s Independent Voice By Doing Something You Already Love To Do, Shop On Amazon! By clicking our affiliate link below, The Red Pill Pundit Will Receive A Referral Bonus For Almost Anything You Purchase. We want to thank all of our amazing readers for your continued support. Let?s Go Shopping! Red Pill?
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#9965
Why the left weeps for evil dictators, Trump tweets about voter fraud, and the Romney mess.
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Some Democrats got a little queasy after they learned Florida Rep. Karen Bass is on Joe Biden’s list of possible running mates. The Los Angeles Democrat raised eyebrows in 2016 after the deat…
#9970
Sources: A generation of 'little savages' raised in nurseries as daycare is linked to aggression in toddlers: http://ow.ly/IGO9100dBv6 Milo Yiannopoulos assaulted and threatened by BLM 'protes
#9971
CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves will step down from his position amid a series of sexual misconduct complaints by at least 12 female accusers.
#9972
Dylann Roof has been sentenced to death for killing 9 black church members. He is the first to receive the death penalty for federal hate crimes.
#9973
President Donald Trump has finalized a deal with Lockheed Martin to purchase 90 F-35 fighter jets for the lowest price in the program's history.
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Via: In the future, people will marvel how hysterical mankind has been, Lindzen says Guest blog by Daniel Kaiser, writer at conservative Echo & Echo24.cz, original in Czech An interview with …
#9975
Flouting state law and decades of precedent.