The Other Side Of The Argument

Tonight I attended a presentation by Jeff Lewis of the Patriot Coalition. The presentation was sponsored by the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA).  Mr. Lewis’s topic was “Convention of States: A Threat to the Republic?”
A number of conservative voices have suggested that because our government is currently broken so badly we need to call an Article V Convention. An Article V Convention is one of two ways to amend the U.S. Constitution. According to Article V, Congress must call for an amendment-proposing convention, “on the application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States,” meaning 34 state legislatures would have to submit applications. Once an Article V Convention has proposed an amendment or amendments, then the amendment or amendments would have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states (38 states) in order to become part of the Constitution. The other method of amending the Constitution is a vote by two-thirds of each house of Congress.
Mr. Lewis is the co-founder of the Patriot Coalition, a group that opposes an Article V Convention. He made some very valid points during his presentation. He pointed out that the Constitution is not the problem–the fact that our government is not following the Constitution is the problem. If those in power are not following the current Constitution, what makes us think that if we change it they will follow the new Constitution? That is a very good question.
The danger of an Article V Convention is that once the convention is called, Congress is in full charge of making the rules. If we cannot trust Congress to be above special interests and politics with the power they currently have, why should we believe that they will behave well in putting together the rules for an Article V Convention? Another good question.
If Congress makes the rules for an Article V Convention, there would be no guarantee of a one state/one vote principle at the convention. All bets are off as to how issues would be discussed, decided, or voted on. That is a scary proposition.
There are some arguments for an Article V Convention. Washington stopped listening to the voters a long time ago, and most voters stopped paying attention to Washington except for the two to three weeks before Election Day. Change is definitely needed, I am simply not sure if an Article V Convention is that change. I believe that it would be too easy for special interest groups and people who do not support our current Constitution to do things that all Americans would regret.