Ronald Reagan makes the PERFECT case for Convention of States

Ronald Reagan once said the fundamental political issue was “whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.”

As a political newcomer and former Democrat, Reagan launched his new career campaigning for the influential conservative presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. The Hollywood actor and future president had recently undergone a dramatic political shift, distancing himself from longtime political leanings due to his concerns about the federal government's spending habits.

“No nation in history has ever survived a tax burden that reached a third of its national income,” he declared in 1964 on the campaign trail for Goldwater (one can only imagine what Reagan would think if saw the American economy today!).

“Today, 37 cents out of every dollar earned in this country is the tax collector’s share, and yet our government continues to spend 17 million dollars a day more than the government takes in. We haven’t balanced our budget 28 out of the last 34 years,” he pointed out. “We’ve raised our debt limit three times in the last twelve months, and now our national debt is one and a half times bigger than all the combined debts of all the nations of the world. We have 15 billion dollars in gold in our treasury; we don’t own an ounce. Foreign dollar claims are 27.3 billion dollars. And we’ve just had announced that the dollar of 1939 will now purchase 45 cents in its total value.”

The nation’s premier proponent of self-governance challenged the notion that a government that tried to “help us,” “provide for us,” or “be our all in all” was merely benevolent. Instead, he argued, it was actually trying to control our lives. Resoundingly, that message resonated with the American people and launched Reagan into political stardom.

“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem,” he emphasized in his 1981 inaugural address. “From time to time, we’ve been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden.”

Reagan failed to implement these principles perfectly, of course. Despite his vocal opposition to endless government spending, for example, the national debt increased during his presidency (thanks, in part, to an increase in military spending). Nevertheless, the 40th president cut taxes, reduced welfare spending, eliminated superfluous government programs, reduced inflation and unemployment, and led the nation through a season of general prosperity. In 1984, he was re-elected in an unprecedented landslide, garnering 525 out of 538 electoral votes.

For those of us in the Article V movement, Reagan’s life, example, and wise words remind us of what we’re aiming for in our endeavor to limit the size and scope of the federal government.

Ronald Reagan was a firm believer in the capacity of the American people, under God, to reclaim liberty. Additionally, he believed that the states should use Article V to curb the out-of-control, freedom-suppressing federal leviathan.

“Fortunately, our Nation’s Founders gave us the means to amend the Constitution through action of state legislatures,” he wrote. “Unless we act quickly, the people in the White House and those running Congress will bankrupt America.”

On another occasion, he observed that “the Convention is a safety valve giving the people a chance to act if Congress refuses to.”

Working within the federal government, Ronald Reagan made an incalculable impact on the nation, but its longevity was limited. Within years of his departure, the “intellectual elite” had already returned in full force; we quickly forgot many of the lessons he taught us.

Fortunately, however, we still have Article V.

As we seek to finish the Great Communicator’s work, may his wisdom guide us, reminding us never to surrender our God-given capacity for self-government or the spirit of the revolution to that little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital.

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