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Historic.  That’s the only word to really describe what happened here in Colonial Williamsburg today.  As I’ve written before, the Simulated Convention of States has been going on for the past three days, as representatives from all fifty states deliberated over ways to bring the United States back to its original glory.

Here’s how it began this morning:

Call me sentimental, but just hearing the roll call gave me chillbumps.  Some states simply said, “here.” Others bragged about their states in (often) hilarious ways.  I loved hearing the variety of accents, and the comments that ranged from sports bravado to historical gloating.  (Yes, Connecticut, we get it.  You’re the “Constitution State.” And Tennessee, we do appreciate your history of volunteer service.)

Of course, this was only a simulated convention… more about demonstrating how the process works, than figuring out the precise amendments that would actually be proposed when the real one is inevitably called. The three committees – Fiscal Restraint Committee; Federal Legislative and Executive Jurisdiction Committee; Term Limits and Federal Judicial Jurisdiction Committee — worked for hours yesterday to propose amendments germane to the application.

At the end of the day, we ended up with  six proposed amendments that might lawfully come up  under our COS application:

1. Requiring the states to approve any increase in the national debt
2. Term limits on Congress
3. Limiting federal overreach by returning the Commerce Clause to its original meaning
4. Limiting the power of federal regulations by giving an easy congressional override
5. Require a super majority for federal taxes and repeal the 16th Amendment
6. Give the states (by a 3/5ths vote) the power to abrogate any federal law, regulation or executive order.

The debate from the floor was vigorous.  Check out Connecticut representative Joe Markley discussing one of the amendments:


At the end of the day, the Convention delegates proposed amendments with the conviction that they are a sound beginning to a critically-needed national discussion about restoring the balance of power between the federal government and the states.

It was inspiring to behold.  America — it ain’t done yet.

 

About The Author

Mark was a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, and served as the national coordinator. He left the organization to work more broadly on expanding the self-governance movement beyond the partisan divide. Mark appears regularly on television in outlets as diverse as MSNBC, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox Business and the BBC. He’s highly sought after for the tea party perspective from print and electronic media outlets, from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, L.A. Times, Washington Examiner, Politico and the The Hill. Mark blogs at MarkMeckler.com, and his opinion editorials regularly run in many of the leading political newspapers both on and offline. Mark has a BA in English from San Diego State University and graduated with honors from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1988. He practiced real estate and business law for almost a decade. For the last eleven years of his legal career he specialized in Internet advertising law. When not fighting for the future of our nation, Mark is an avid horseman, and lives in rural northern California with his wife Patty and two children.

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