Convention of States

Tonight, Harrison City Council unanimously approved a resolution in support of the Convention of States movement (www.conventionofstates.com). Unless you’ve been stranded on a deserted island, you’ve probably noticed that our nation is bitterly divided over, well, just about everything. Where does this divisiveness come from? A friend of mine recently offered the astute observation that the more power government has over our lives, the more we fight to be the group wielding that power.

Fortunately, the framers of the constitution gave us a means to rein in the federal government. It’s something we learned about in 4th grade civics class. Article V of the constitution gives the states the ability to call a constitutional convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to the constitution.

So as to avoid creating a convention as dysfunctional as the very government we are seeking to restrain, the convention of states movement has wisely chosen to limit the debate to just 3 crucial amendments that will put us back on course:

• Impose term limits – the longer a congressman/woman or senator spend in the swamp, the more beholden they are to special interests and the less likely they are to actually represent YOU. The notion of the citizen legislator is among the noblest ideas ever conceived by man.
• Impose fiscal restraint – the federal government spends money like a drunken sailor on shore leave. Rather than continuing to saddle our grandchildren’s’ grandchildren with crushing debt, it is time to require a balanced federal budget.
• Limit the power of the federal government – for generations, the federal government has usurped powers that the framers intended to put in the hands of we the people through our state and local government. It’s time to take back that power

It takes 34 states to call such a convention. To date, 15 states have issued the call. 27 states including Ohio have legislation to join the call for a convention on the current year’s agenda or have already passed a resolution in at least 1 house of their legislature. Only 8 states have their head completely buried in the sand.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to visit www.conventionofstates.com and sign their petition encouraging State Senator Blessing and State Representative Abrams to do their part to add Ohio to the list of states calling for a constitutional convention just as Harrison City Council so wisely did with tonight’s resolution.