Hillary Clinton said in a speech this week that Donald Trump has “no credible plans” for working Americans. Her comments are meant to capitalize on the fact that the New York businessman has thus far been light on the details when it comes to his policy positions.
Whether or not that’s fair is up for debate. What is true is that politicians love to promise the world on the campaign trail, only to backtrack after they win the election. They outline a vague plan to “turn our country around,” but inevitably fail to execute.
Politicians may disappoint the American people, but there is one solution that truly can turn our nation around: an Article V Convention of States. A Convention of States can fix not just the superficial symptoms of our national diseases, but the structural sources of these problems. It can propose constitutional amendments that force Congress to be fiscally responsible, impose term limits on federal officials, and limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government.
And unlike campaigning politicians, the Convention of States Project has a real, detailed, executable plan to make a Convention of States a reality.
Our strategy consists of two parts:
1. We want to call a convention for a particular subject rather than a particular amendment. Calling a convention for a balanced budget amendment (though we are entirely supportive of such an amendment), addresses only one of a number of issues. The Convention of States Application allows for multiple Amendments to be considered for the purpose of limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government. This will allow for the states to provide a solution as big as the problem in D.C.
2. We believe the grassroots is the key to calling a successful convention. The goal is to build a political operation in all 50 states, getting 100 people to volunteer in at least 75% of the state’s legislative districts. We believe this is very doable. But only through the support of the American people will this project have a chance to succeed.
The best part? It’s already working. Our volunteer grassroots organizations have passed our resolution in eight states, and we have functioning organizations working to pass it in the remaining 42.