Article V Convention of States - SC Status

___The United States Constitution provides two ways to amend itself. Elected members of Congress may propose amendment(s) and 2/3 of the House and Senate must approve the amendment(s) before being sent to the states. Then ¾ of the states must ratify the amendment(s) before being added to the Constitution. The second method is for 2/3 of the state legislatures to propose specific amendments at a convention of states. Again ¾ of the states must ratify the amendment(s) before being added to the Constitution.

___The United States Constitution has been amended only 17 times – once to undo a previous amendment (prohibition). Ten amendments, the bill of rights, were necessary for states to approve the original Constitution.

___The usual argument against the convention of states is a fear that the Constitution will be substantially rewritten. The same unfounded argument can be used when members of Congress propose an amendment. The same 2/3 and ¾ requirements apply in either case, and only amendments are discussed. A Balanced Budget Amendment or term limits for members of Congress and the federal courts would change the original Constitution – just like the 2-term limit for President, but our basic balance of power and constitutional republic structure will be unchanged.

___Americans need to consider why America works. France has had 2 empires and 5 republics since our Constitution was written. Our founders knew what they were doing. They were not just a bunch of “dead white guys!” But when the federal government becomes too corrupt, the people have a constitutional solution built in to our founding legal base.

___About 37 states – including SC – are well into passing the CoS legislation. SC has stalled in the Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Greg Delleney. His constituents need to call, email and write to him encouraging him to finish the job.

___Our national debt is $19.3 Trillion, but we also have student loan debt of $1.3 Trillion with a default rate of about 20% and unfunded promises for Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security of over $100 Trillion. Not only must we balance our budget, but we must run a surplus. That happened in FY2000 when welfare reform finally showed savings. All of those reforms have been gutted. The status quo leads to bankruptcy (or revolution) in less than 20 years unless we find our Margaret Thatcher.

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