Saving Federalism with Convention of States

Today we are looking down the throat of a totalitarian beast that has used extraordinary circumstances to seize authority and threaten the future of our Republic. Forces holding the reins of power in Washington are poised to enact measures into law that will erode individual liberty and the role of local government in healthcare, elections, education and business. All of this is being done after one party came to control two branches of the government with the thinnest majority after a suspicious election.
 
The founders created a federal system that gave the states authority in Congress through the Senate. The people elected their representatives by popular vote while the state legislatures chose the two senators. Senators chosen by a state legislature reflected the majority political philosophy of the state and the Senate was a reflection of the states. This was the primary protection of federalism in the Constitution.
 
Since ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, the people elected senators and the state legislatures lost the ability to provide a check on Congress. Having lost this check the states have been subject to a coercive federalism, appropriating state powers and inflicting unpopular programs and policies that a state would not embrace. If the current Senate were appointed by their state legislatures we would likely have 60 Republican senators. These 60 senators would prevent passage of anything like the Green New Deal, social infrastructure, universal healthcare or any of the currently proposed expansion of federal power.
 
A Convention of States could result in a proposed amendment giving the states the power to override a federal statute. Any bill signed into law would be overridden when three-fifths of the states pass resolutions opposing the bill within twenty-four months of the bill signed into law, or without a time limit for any bill passed with less than a than a veto proof majority. This would subject many existing laws to repeal by the states. The states would decide which of those laws add or detract from our national fabric.
 
The intent of this amendment would be to give the states the authority to prevent a narrow majority in Congress acting without considering the reaction of the states and the consent of the people. The idea that elections have consequences may mean changes between political parties but it is not a license to punish your rivals or bring a wholesale overhaul of the lives of Americans. Fundamental transformation of American cannot be permitted if it means a loss of individual liberty.