Originally published in the Frederick County Virginia Republican Outreach Newsletter.
Our government has become self-serving, hide-bound, sclerotic and flirting with bankruptcy, all symptomatic of the fading twilight experienced by end-stage nations and empires.
Former CIA operative and Navy veteran, Albert Torres, is part of a growing movement promoting a Constitutional fix to this sad state of affairs.
Called the “Convention of States” (COS), it is a provision in our Constitution that provides the remedy to restore our nation’s institutional accountability to its citizens, as anticipated by our Founding Fathers.
It was Virginia’s very own George Mason who inserted the provision for a COS in Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
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 the Congress…
"A COS would not be a wide-open free-for-all, but instead be focused on specific amendments to the Constitution," said Torres.
The focus of the current initiative would be to address:
- The debt crisis and pending financial bust of our country’s finances and Social Security and Medicare programs, through a balanced budget amendment.
- The problem of regulatory overreach, whereby regulatory agencies (and the Supreme Court) effectively usurp the legislative powers of Congress.
- The problem of an entrenched career political class, through the imposition of term limits.
Between 2010 and 2022, the re-election rate for U.S. House of Representatives members was 94.5%. For Senators, it was 100%.
Torres noted that Article V requires that 34 state legislatures vote to hold a COS.
“Thus far we have19 states that have committed”, said Torres. But not (yet) Virginia!
Once a COS has been called and new amendments proposed, it will require 38 states to vote for ratification.
This remains a steep hill to climb, but momentum for a COS is likely to build as our country’s crises points loom closer.
In response to a question from an audience skeptic, Torres noted that we have no choice but to pursue this and that, as an American patriot, he felt an obligation to devote his retirement to this cause one step at a time.
Torres did offer the hopeful observation that, according to polling, support for a COS is book-ended by 75% of Republicans and 50% of Democrats.
Torres invited participants to visit the COS website and sign the petition for Virginia to join COS, as well as considering other ways to contribute to the initiative.
