I had a really interesting conversation with a woman last night. She would definitely be classified as the “tea party-grassroots Conservative.” We started talking about Term Limits and she argued against it. I said “Why……!?? Oh my gosh-it was never meant to be a career!” I was initially shocked that she wasn’t for it! I haven’t met a true Conservative that doesn’t back Term Limits! I asked her to explain, and it was her reasoning, that got me thinking…..
“We have Term Limits, they are called elections.” Ughhh ya….ya…ya, I hadn’t heard that one before. I wasn’t thrilled to hear this uttered from her mouth. She then told me about her advocacy for a Convention of the States. She said it is here we can actually CHANGE how Congress is operating. We the people have the power, if we have the organization skills, we could make history.
What is a Convention of the States? We all (hopefully) learned about this in US History, but I -like probably many of you….kinda forgot specifics. This Convention of the States, which is found in Article 5 of the United States Constitution, is simply this:
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Ok what? This means, that State Legislators can bypass Federal Legislators. This means that citizens can call upon the state legislators to call for a Convention of the States!
In other words, it’s not just Congress that can amend the Constitution. We the people can!!!!! It takes 34 states to agree and unite, and it’s a go!
My conversation continued in the “why” no term limits, because, I am a strong advocate FOR term limits!
“If you Term Limit, they’ll still get caught up in the dirty side of politics, they’ll still take money from big corps, lobbyists, and pacs, they’ll just have a shorter time to do it,” She explained.
Huh….I thought. “Well, what do you suggest,” I asked?
“One way we can limit their power, and corruption, is an amendment for only a ‘single issue’ bill,” she suggested.
Currently most- if not all -bills that are written contain a whole heap of issues and back-end deals! On top of that, the bills are like a zillion pages long and I am finding- our congress most of the time doesn’t even read them! So a single issue bill would literally be ONE issue-no strings attached. I really love this idea! The more I learn about how our bills become laws, and how they are written and all the strings attached, I have come to the conclusion it’s a freakin mess! A single issue bill would eliminate the secrecy and corruption!
I left the conversation thinking…..what a great idea!
I am now really going to dive deeper into a Convention of the States, if you are interested, let me know!
Being a Delegate would be AWESOME……..if I were one, I’d still push for term limits though! 😉
What are your thought? Let me know!!!
This 3 min clip totally explains a Convention of the Sates-in a VERY EASY format! WATCH!!!
Conservative Momma 
Reblogged this on conservativemomma and commented:
I thought I’d re-blog this one, since 16 States have filed to call for a Convention of States in their state House! We need 34, and of course we need this to pass both House and Senate….but it’s starting to get some steam! What is a Convention of States-Read and find out! 🙂
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I am really intrigued by this idea of a convention of the states and I believe it could be a possible avenue for a government overhaul if our Congress continues down its path of ineptitude. The one issue bill solution could help to alleviate some of the blockage, but as long as special interests are able to contribute millions and billions of dollars to candidates and their campaigns, any solution will ultimately be mutated to satisfy the needs and wants of a few select industries and individuals.
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I totally agree, I do think that Term Limits, would negate some of the special interests and lobbying, because those elected have a very limited time in office. Also, why not create an amendment of limited funds and contributions being funneled to candidates and campaigns?
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It would be great to create such an amendment, although I can’t imagine a world where policy-makers would agree to limit their time in office and also change the system which put them in office. I think you have to attack one problem at a time, and in this case I believe the more important goal is to limit the influence of special interests. Once that is achieved, and we have elected officials chosen by and voted in by the people, then we can begin to improve the overall structure of the system by introducing issues such as term limits and one issue bills.
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I like it!
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