(Connie Foust) – You may be hearing talk of a Convention of States movement. To dispell what is rumor and some fear based opinion, I would like to clarify what the Convention of States is about.
The purpose of the Convention of States Project is to stop our runaway federal government from spending our country into a downward spiral we cannot recover from. Also to stop the federal government from seizing power from the states and taking liberty from the people.
The COS Project urges and empowers state legislators to call a Convention of States. The delegates would be able to propose amendments to the Constitution that would curb the federal government’s abuses. Article V of the Constitution gives them this power and the COS Project gives them an avenue through which they can use it.
The idea is to call a convention for a particular subject rather than a particular amendment, i.e. to limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government. This might include term limits, tax reform etc.
To ratify a convention it would require the approval of 38 states, so one need not fear a runaway convention.
We expect blowback from those who fear for instance, term limits. It is the belief of many involved with the COS Project, that we have too many career politicians, who spend more energy, money and time involved in fundraising for their next election than they spend working on the problems that face the nation today.
Judicial appointments at the Federal level are being looked at also, because the Supreme Court has become a partisan body. They can and have made decisions that rightfully should have been unconstitutional, ie The Affordable Health Care Act.
Lifetime appointments in today’s society make no sense. When the Constitution was written, people died, on average, in their fifties, now we live much longer and so regardless of political leanings, we can live with a Supreme Court Judge for several decades. COS is looking at 12 year maximum term limits on Congress and the Supreme Court.
It is time to put aside personal party affiliation and work towards what is good for the country as a whole.
I encourage you to go to conventionofstates.com to get complete information on the project. Also, they have held three tele-townhalls in the past few weeks and you can access them from the site, listen to find out for yourself how the COS Project will work.
(Connie Foust is President of the Virgin Valley Tea Party in Mesquite, Nevada)
