Our grassroots mission at Convention of States is to educate citizens on Article V and foster support to have South Dakota join the movement.
To promote our cause to bring power back to the States, we have a booth at FreedomFest on July, 21-24 in Rapid City, S.D. Our dedicated COS volunteers will be exhibitors. Mark Meckler, COS Founder, will present as well.
Below is an excerpt from one of our forum posts to help educate attendees on the power of Article V and the need for a Convention of States:
History marks the summer of our 1787 Constitutional Convention as a time when our founding fathers sought balance to counteract chaos. Having witnessed 2,700 years of man’s servitude under the totalitarian rule of the divine rights of kings, these men trusted God to give their fledgling country a chance for something new. But the truth that men are not angels prompted the need for an enabling form of governance that would guide the nation forward with guaranteed freedom and liberty while still maintaining a civil society.
These 55 well-read delegates relied most heavily on the Judeo-Christian Bible and the writings of Baron de Montesquieu, Sir William Blackstone, and John Locke. The Bible provided the spiritual guidance for the conduct of man under God. Montesquieu wrote that legislative, executive, and judicial government functions should not rely on one person but should be dispersed over multiple branches to prevent one from becoming too powerful. Blackstone offered a study of common English law that should be available to all men. And Locke argued that government owed its legitimacy to the people who sponsored it and that the purpose of government was to protect the God-given rights of life, liberty, and property.
The first three Articles of our Constitution went to great lengths to balance the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. They were painstakingly defined and enumerated as separate but not-coequal branches, using the concept of counterbalance.
But the framing authors also knew that the product of their four-month effort would likely require some future modifications. They knew the document may give too much power or not enough power in some areas, or simple omissions may occur and changes would eventually be necessary. As such, they had the wisdom to write in Article V for making Constitutional Amendments.
The original version of Article V allowed only Congress to propose amendments to the Constitution. This would have been a serious mistake, for then only the federal government would have the power to amend our founding document. Fortunately, George Mason immediately spotted the problem. According to Madison’s notes, Mason rose to point out that under this version of Article V, “No amendments of the proper kind would ever be obtained by the people, if the government should become oppressive.”
So, the Framers amended Article V to allow Congress and the states to propose amendments. It reads, “… 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 three fourths thereof, ….”.
Career politicians have expanded the federal debt to its current $28 trillion, and the spending continues to expand regardless of which party is in power. Our grandchildren have no voice in the debt accumulation they must eventually resolve. All government accounting entities agree this model is unsustainable, but Congress has no appetite to limit its own ability to satisfy all special interest entities and to feed the monstrous spending binge.
This trend of an overstepping government will certainly continue without using the constitutional balance given us in an Article V Convention of States. If we believe in the Constitutional concept of a limited government that receives their limited power from “We the People,” a Convention of States is a Constitutional bedrock foundation we must support.
We invite you to hear the COS Founder, Mr. Mark Meckler, at FreedomFest on Friday, July 23 at 4:55 p.m. for “Censorship in the Age of Big Tech Oligarchy – What can we do?” and again Saturday 11:00 a.m., “Hope in the Age of Despair; Convention of States is the Solution.”
Come see us at FreedomFest! We are in booth number 806 in the Rushmore Hall.
To read the full forum post click here.
