Title: A Path for Citizens

Original CoS Document (slug): a-path-for-citizens

Login Required to view? No

Created: 2023-05-10 15:35:15

Updated: 2023-05-19 03:00:01

Published: 2023-05-12 00:00:00

Converted: 2025-04-14T21:24:40.697046385

Convention of states is a constitutionally-prescribed function of federalism; an exercise in republican government that is available to all citizens of the United States through their state representatives. 

While the intent of the convention clause of Article V is clearly stated in Madison’s Notes and elsewhere – and understood to limit an overweening central government – the route to the convention is open to any organization or interest with the will and dedication to pursue it; to start the arduous process of convincing at least 34 states to amend the Constitution to fit their vision of America. 

Just as a group of religious zealots could attempt to utilize a convention to propose the repeal of the establishment clause of the First Amendment, so too could radical pro-abortion groups try to get the ball rolling on an amendment legalizing abortion up to birth and beyond. 

It's not to worry: Neither faction would advance far and not come close to getting to convention – with obvious good reason.

Our effort has advanced toward an official convention because there is nothing radical about what we are attempting to accomplish.

Yet opponents of our particular effort are vociferously adamant in distorting what a convention considering our resolutions can and cannot do because they know that calls for limitations on the power and scope of the federal government resonate with vast swaths of our countrymen and their state legislators. 

A desire to so check the federal government resonates for scores of reasons, including: 

• The overwhelming regulation of nearly every aspect of life that is foisted upon citizens by faceless, un-elected bureaucrats who are all too happy to step in when Congress shirks its duty.
• Endless wars – and the funding of those wars with money that we do not have – with nary a congressional declaration of war issued or cogent strategy announced and followed.
• The bottomless, self-serving greed of the incumbent class who vote themselves pay raises and grease the system to establish an iron grip on re-election, establishing taxpayer-funded fiefdoms complete with security and travel entourages that would embarrass even the most decadent royal houses. 
• The complete bifurcation of a dubiously-labeled justice system that is woe unto those of certain political persuasions or without the means and influence to tip the scales favorably.
• The criminal COVID diktats issued by corrupt, morally bankrupt federal agencies under the control of multinational corporations, and the attempt by those same agencies to squelch free speech by colluding with social media companies that were all too happy to comply.

That’s just for starters.

Americans are beyond exasperated and frustrated. But as the word about the Convention of States movement spreads, so does hope and the prospect of renewal – a path open to citizens to reaffirm and reinforce the principles of ordered liberty and limited government established in the Constitution. 

Much hard work remains just to get to the Article V convention and begin the conversation. But our growing movement is what the prescient men who wrote and approved Article V envisioned when including it in our republic’s charter; a gift that is open to all and to be used at times like this. 

Let’s not squander it. To sign the petition and volunteer to help return our government to its founding principles, click here.