Background: This is the second in a series of blog posts about Mark Levin’s excellent and inspiring book, The Liberty Amendments. I hope to convey Levin's major messages and inspire others to engage in the Convention of States (COS) project and join its underlying and growing grass-roots movement to restore liberty and self-governance. I also hope to inspire you to read this book. The prior article in the series introduces the book, Levin’s intent and purpose for writing it, and summarizes the Introduction and the purpose of each Chapter.
Chapter 1 of Mark Levin’s bestselling book (link to view prior article) The Liberty Amendments
introduces the need to restore the constitutional republic using Article V of the Constitution. It's critical to putting We the People back in proper balance with Congress and the Executive and Judicial branches. And most importantly the States, who under the design of our constitutional republic, are the most important and most powerful government entity, and most aligned with the people's interests. Constant vigilance and leadership by the States are needed to counter-balance national power and decentralize and localize governance, nearest to the people so that we can self-govern with little interference.
Many examples are cited by Levin where the President is operating by executive fiat – far beyond the enumerated powers in the Constitution – while Congress and the people who they represent sit idly by. As evidence, observe what happens on day one in office after a newly elected President’s inauguration. Regardless of the President's party, dozens of executive orders are issued or struck down from the prior regime, impacting millions of people, hundreds or thousands of federal employees, and large amounts in federal agency and department budgets.
Congress members and well connected cronies and donors also participate in treading on We the People’s and the States’ rights, and our hard-earned tax dollars. Through their own self-interest and insidious corruption, members of Congress profit from the insider knowledge and action. Clear evidence can be seen by how many in Congress have enriched themselves with millions in net worth while in public office, far beyond what their annual salary would pay them. This makes the term “public servant” an oxymoron, and is a clarion call to who “the public” really are, and who are being served instead.
Simply put, the legislative branch of the federal government of, by, and for the people, has by contrast become a government by Congress in large part for their own enrichment, self-aggrandizement, and reelection fundraising from special interests.
So what to do? What’s a solution as big as the problem in DC? Thanks to the genius of the framers, especially George Mason, we have the second clause of Article V in the Constitution. The people through the leadership of the States have a way to rise up and push back against overreach, corruption, lawlessness, fiscal irresponsibility and soft tyranny from the overlords in the swamp in DC. The framers of the Constitution were astute historical observers of human nature, and the immutable tendency of people to pursue and aggregate power, and for it to corrupt. As the Constitution was about to be signed on a hot day in Philadelphia after many long days and weeks of discussion and negotiation, George Mason stood up to speak (and while there is no video tape, we can imagine the groans and sighs: “Oh no, another important discussion with only two days left in Convention! Let’s adjourn, get out of this heat, and go home.”).
Mason observed that the first clause of Article V gives Congress the ability to propose amendments to the Constitution any day of the week, but We the People through the States have no ability to do so. According to James Madison's meticulous notes and Constitutional Convention records, George Mason believed that the people needed a way to amend the Constitution if Congress or the national government being conceived were ever to become oppressive.
"No amendment of the proper kind would ever be obtained by the people, if the government should become oppressive, as he verily believed would be the case", James Madison says of George Mason's comments.
Among a body that debated every little detail during the drafting, Article V was amended without discussion (“nin. com.” in Madison’s terse notes). As Levin observes, "...Mason, alarmed that Congress would have the sole power to propose amendments, continued to insist on state authority to call for conventions. Mason explained that an oppressive Congress would never agree to propose amendments curtailing its own tyranny: Col: Mason thought the plan of amending the Constitution exceptionable & dangerous." If you’d like to dig a little deeper, see this video and the free Article V Pocket Guide on pages 15 through 17. Colonel George Mason was of the first order of greatness in his understanding of the need to restrain national power in order to retain liberty and human flourishing.
While out and about, I wear a hat with Article V embroidered on the front to provoke people to ask me about it, so that I can spread the word and grow the movement. The Article V hat also symbolizes for me that We the People are very dissatisfied with DC and oppressed by its corruption and soft tyranny. We need to rise up through the states and make structural change – the solution that the framers gave us. As Levin will describe in Chapter 2, elections are not enough and are not working; structural change to the Constitution is absolutely needed. Article V enables We the People through the States to make that change.
An Article V Convention of States is a simple process to understand, and a picture is worth a thousand words:
And so is a 3-minute video giving an explanation. As you can see, checks and balances are built into that process to make sure it stays focused on the three pillars of the COS Resolution: federal term limits, fiscal restraints, and jurisdictional reduction. As you’d expect, Mark Levin is a strong supporter and endorser.
To date, 19 states have passed the COS Resolution; you can follow the progress here and read the one-page resolution here. In 7 more states to date, the resolution has passed one chamber of the state legislature and is pending in the other, such as in my home state of North Carolina.
So, how does progress continue? What can you do to contribute? The progress to date has only happened because a growing grassroots army of volunteers throughout the country have worked tirelessly to advocate for a Convention of States. As of this writing, in North Carolina alone there are 95,000+ plus petition signers, and 2750+ volunteers. We will never give up encouraging and influencing our representatives in the NC General Assembly to adopt the COS Resolution. We will continue to recruit and build a grassroots movement of people who want more liberty and decentralized self-governance. As this article explains, a Convention of States benefits all North Carolinians. Won’t you sign the petition to alert your state legislators of your support and request their support? Or get involved by volunteering your time, talent, or treasure? We need you -- this movement is only as strong as We the People who engage in it!
The next posts in this series will explore the specific amendments that Levin proposes on the path to restoring liberty, self-governance, and our constitutional republic.
