The following was written by P.J. Loss.
The South Carolina Republican Party took a historic step on Saturday, May 18, 2019.
At the South Carolina Republican State Convention, the attending delegation passed a resolution endorsing Convention of States and the use of an Article V amendments convention to rein in an out-of-control federal government.
In passing the resolution they made clear that they are much more concerned about a runaway Congress and Supreme Court than they are about a runaway convention.
By passing the resolution in support of Convention of States, the South Carolina Republican Party has decided to vote in favor of the use of an Article V convention for the purpose of proposing constitutional amendments limited to three specific topics:
- To impose fiscal restraints on the federal government.
- To limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government.
- To limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress.
Over the past five years--through a process of education and outreach from our volunteer team in South Carolina--the party has gone from lukewarm to red-hot for Convention of States.
There is currently a Convention of States resolution calling for an Article V Amendments Convention filed in both the South Carolina House and Senate.
Over the past 120 years, both the courts and Congress have stepped far beyond the limits imposed by the Tenth Amendment by usurping powers that rightfully belong to the states. They have been successful in doing so mainly by reinventing the meanings of the following clauses:
- The interstate commerce clause
- The necessary and proper clause
- The general welfare clause
In all three cases either Congress has made laws by improper interpretation of one or more of these clauses, or the Supreme Court has adjudicated case law by improper interpretation of one or more of these clauses.
The American Framers knew that a day might come when a large federal government would become so drunk with power that they would no longer be limiting their reach or operating within their original enumerated powers and would be incapable of proposing amendments to the Constitution that would limit itself.
That day has finally arrived. The day has come for a solution to restore the proper balance between our federal government and the states, thereby ensuring true federalism exists in our constitutional republic.
The Framers' solution was given to us in Article V. That article provides a second way for amendments to be proposed. Article V of the Constitution allows the states to convene a meeting (historically called a "convention of the states" or "amendments convention") when two-thirds of the states call for such a meeting.
The ratification process remains the same for all proposed amendments whether they come from Congress or from the states: all amendments must be ratified by three-quarters of the states (38 to be exact).
The biggest sticking point against the states meeting to propose amendments is that a false narrative has been circulating for years that the original Constitution was the result of a runaway convention and this one would be no different.
James Madison completely debunks that false narrative in Federalist 40. The commissioners did exactly what the states told them to do. No more. No less.
It has always been our conviction that the COS resolution is a non-partisan issue. So for all South Carolinians--including Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and Independents--who feel that Washington is broken, come join this grassroots effort to bring more control back closer to home.
United we can solve the problems that our federal government can’t or won’t resolve.
