Cutting Off Congress and Saving Our Country

Watching the floundering and fecklessness of our Congress, observing their throwing fiscal responsibility to the wind, and realizing that the most important agenda they have is to be re-elected, I wanted to help find a way to help transform Congress and its effects on this country. And I think I’ve found a way.

For months, I have been struggling with a decision. It’s about getting involved with an organization, and I am not a joiner. Nor do I like to make commitments that I might not be able to keep. I also want there to be a likelihood of the organization’s success.

I’ve written a bit before about the Convention of States. Initially I was skeptical about their goals, and their chances of success. But the more I read about them, the more impressed I was with not only their plans, but also with their anticipation of roadblocks and ways to overcome them.

If you haven’t heard of them, the organization was formed based on Article V of the Constitution:

Article V of the U.S. Constitution gives states the power to call a convention to propose amendments. It takes 34 states to call the convention and 38 to ratify any amendments that are proposed. Our 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.’

I was especially impressed with their strategies for keeping the COS from going off the rails. They’ve designed an orderly and practical process for initiating, conducting and completing the process.

But in spite of my initial enthusiasm, I began to have questions that weren’t being answered by the FAQ’s of the organization. So instead of continuing to dither around, I decided to ask about the questions I was struggling with.

One of my biggest concerns was that Congress would simply ignore or table the application completed for a COS. I learned that Article V has already been addressed in the courts, including United States v. Sprague, 282 U.S. 716 (1931), so if Congress tries to sabotage or ignore the process, it will be sued.

When I asked how a lawsuit would be pursued, I was told the following by COS staff:

This is settled law and that quote came from Michael Farris who is one of our co-founders and a constitutional attorney who practices before the Supreme Court. In fact, he is the only living attorney who has argued Article V case law before the court and is an authority in such matters. Generally, a state attorney general would file suit and the other 33 states would then join the suit, but that is highly unlikely that Congress would act in such a way because too many members know this and are endorsers of our project. The current Speaker of the House is a supporter and was in the LA state legislature when we passed our application there.

To date, 19 states have approved the Convention of States, and at the beginning of 2024, at least 11 more states have presented the resolution to their state legislatures.

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So, I’ve made my decision, in spite of my reservations about group-joining, and I officially joined. I crossed over the finish line when I saw the jobs they offer volunteers—they needed writers! I felt I was a good fit for the kinds of writers they needed.

I hope they agree.