Last week while driving, on Good Friday to be exact, I caught a portion of the Kelly Golden Show on Charleston’s News Station – News Radio 94.3 WSC. I usually avoid ‘talk radio’ first thing in the morning. I need time to get my spirit right before I dive into the politics of the day. I was scanning for music when I heard Kelly mention the Convention of States. Having recently discovered the COS initiative myself, I was interested to hear what Golden and her co-host that day, Blaze, thought of this effort underway to amend the U.S. Constitution.

I was disappointed to hear the on-air talent, along with their callers, discuss whether the Convention of States was “dangerous”. This type of talk is straight out of the George Soros funded playbook to thwart this greatly needed effort to amend the U.S. Constitution. This Convention of States effort would only allow the states to discuss amendments that, “limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, impose fiscal restraints, and place term limits on federal officials.”

If you favor big, centralized government in Washington DC that lords over the states, concentrated power that crushes state autonomy and erases 10^th Amendment protections, and the democratic socialist assault on liberty and freedom that is well underway in this country, then, like the George Soros clan, the thought of the people standing up to reclaim what has been taken from them by the federal government must be truly terrifying.

What is dangerous is to do nothing. The federal government is completely, unequivocally, and dangerously out of control. There are now 630 federal departments and agencies – over 400 of them with regulatory power. The bureaucrats assigned and employed in these agencies write the rules that ruin our lives. Look no further than the disastrous Department of Education and its trashy curriculum being mandated and taught in public schools across America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is another example of bureaucratic tyrants letting their battleship minds get ahead of their rowboat asses! These are just two prime examples of federal departments or agencies that have the power to trample liberty and freedom – stop it dead in its tracks – with draconian mandates and obscene regulations.

Article V of the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: “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.”

According to the Convention of States, Article V of the U.S. Constitution gives states the power to call a Convention of States to propose amendments. It takes 34 states to call the convention and 38 to ratify any amendments that are proposed. The convention would only allow the states to discuss amendments that, “limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, impose fiscal restraints, and place term limits on federal officials.”

South Carolina recently became the 19^th state to pass a resolution calling for an Article V Convention of States. In his signing statement, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster wrote:

Over the years, South Carolinians, like all Americans, have witnessed an unprecedented expansion in the size and scope of this federal government. Along with increasing instances of overreach and intrusions into the affairs of—and matters expressly reserved to—the States, we have observed, with little to-no recourse, the federal government spending and borrowing money at dangerous levels to fund this growth in government. Efforts to rein in federal spending and reduce the national debt have repeatedly met resistance from the parties in power at the time. It has become clear that Congress is unwilling or unable to set aside its self-serving institutional interests in preserving and expanding the size and reach of the federal government. Thus, any initiative to reduce the size of the federal government must originate elsewhere.

As elections have repeatedly failed to reverse this course, I believe that the time has come to utilize the mechanism expressly available to the States in Article V, often called a “Convention of States.” Two thirds of the States must issue the call. Whether an Article V Convention would ultimately be held or propose amendments to the Constitution remains to be seen. However, I believe, at a minimum, this action will awaken and consolidate the attention and patriotism of the people to the threats to their liberties, with beneficial and consequential impact on the Congress to the same ends.

Serious concerns have been raised about the potential consequences of convening an Article V Convention. I share these concerns. I view our Constitution as the most remarkable governmental document in human history. Some leaders foresee a “runaway” convention which could propose amendments beyond the scope of the call. Others prefer that we depend on enlightened future electorates. I see it a little differently. I see the ever-increasing size and scope of the federal government as the larger threat.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster

Our runaway federal government should not only be a concern of “red” states. “Blue” states like California, New York, and Illinois suffer from the same federal restraints, restrictions, and regulations, as “red” states. All states have some form of a Superintendent of Education. States have a Department of Transportation, as well as a Department of Health and Environmental Controls. The names of these statewide departments and agencies vary, but the functions are similar from state to state. What’s obnoxious is that there are now federal agencies hovering above each of these state departments like menacing storm clouds, constantly pouring dictates, mandates, and threats of withheld funding, upon the state-appointed elected leaders if they do not obey and comply with Big Brother in Washington DC.

The federal government’s departure from our framer’s original vision and intent is nearly complete. The importance of our state borders seems relevant only when putting together 50-piece jigsaw puzzles. Instead of being 50 states that make up a country, we are now a country that happens to have 50 states.

Referring to the scope and function of the federal government, and the intent of Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, James Madison of Virginia wrote:

If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the general Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one. (1792)

Only a fool or blind man would claim the federal government is a “limited one”. Congress has been doing whatever it wants the “can be done by money” under the banner of promoting the “general welfare” for over a century now. The consequence is now before us; an indefinite federal government that knows no bounds, trampling state rights, liberty, and freedom at a cost beyond most American’s full understanding. Fortunately, our founding fathers provided us with a peaceful path to restore the federal government to it’s right and appropriate size, scope, and function. But we must walk the walk. With 19 states already onboard, we are more than halfway through. We will need some “liberal” states to see the wisdom of the process and join us.