Thursday, March 11, 2010

Stopping ObamaCare: The 75% Solution?

Whenever a blogger writes a sentence like the one to follow, I have the urge to follow through, for occasionally one can uncover a nugget of gold...

Robert Stacy McCain, in discussing the usurping of constitutional democracy that Louise Slaughter is proposing to pass health care reform, makes the following statement:

People tell me I’m mad to think that some kind of state-level Article V convention is out of the question. That may be, but the atrociousness of Pelosi and company drag that Article V cramdown just a little closer toward being within the question every single day.

So what the hell is Article V? It's a way out:

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...

So here's the question - can we get the legislatures of 34 states to agree to propose an amendment to the constitution that would kill ObamaCare, should it pass? Or perhaps, rather than specifying certain legislation, maybe bar the rules - whether the "Slaughter Rules", or reconciliation - under which a massive social upheaval was engineered?

And if we get the 34 states to meet and propose an amendment, could we get 38 to approve it? One the one hand, Ronald Reagan won 49 states in 1984, so anything's possible. But think of the legislatures in places like California, Vermont, Michigan - goose-step liberals who would throw their own bodies in front of ObamaCare.

And yet again, look at states like New York and New Jersey, who, despite having majority-liberal state legislatures, would be economically decimated by the additional burdens of a national health care takeover. Both New York Senators - Kirsten Gillibrand and the previously untouchable Schmuckie Schumer - have been pilloried by the people and the media for agreeing to a reform deal that could add billions of extra costs onto an already shaky state budget.

So is an Article V convention out of the question? Today, yes. Come November of 2010, after what looks to be a wave election for Republicans of historical magnitude, the answer could be quite different. Even should ObamaCare pass, it's lifespan, like that of the Democratic majority, may well be short-lived.

And should Barack Obama and the Democrats prove themselves to be above the law of the land? Well, there is another document that provides for that little eventuality:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness....

2 comments:

Tao Fox said...

Not necessary. It would probably be far easier to repeal it or challenge the Unconstitutional provisions of Obamacare in court.

Republicans should probably focus on killing this in the Congress before preparing for such unlikely eventualities. Obamacare can be repealed by a simplar majority in the House and a 60 member majority in the Senate. thats easier than getting more than thirty State Assemblies to move on something like this. I figure 18-20 max.

Bill Walker said...

The author is obviously totally unaware of public record or the facts surrounding an Article V Convention. Otherwise he would not have said it is impossible to have a convention. He bases his opinion on the mistaken belief that state propose amendments and therefore they must all propose the same amendment. This is incorrect. If he'd actually read Article V, he'd realize the application is for the purpose of causing Congress to issue a convention call, not a specific amendment proposal. If states could do this, they could also ratify as well meaning the same political bodies would control the process both as to proposal and ratification.

The public record shows that all 50 states have submitted over 700 applications for an Article V Convention. The applications can be read at www.foavc.org. Therefore the premise of the author is entirely false. The states have already shown they can submit applications. The reason a convention has not been held is Congress refuses to obey the Constitution and call one.