Breaking News - Constitution Crisis

Good news: we were all able to testify against the bill today, and we gave them a response they weren’t expecting. There were 10 of us who spoke out against it, ZERO who spoke in support.

Members from Campaign for Liberty, Ohio Freedom Alliance, We Are Change Ohio, John Birch Society, Institute for Principled Policy, Constitution Party of Ohio, and the Libertarian Party of Ohio showed up in support, most of them testified.

After seeing how many of us came, Committee Chairman Blessing changed his mind and decided not to vote on it today. In fact, he acted like it was a mistake that the paper said “possible vote.” Teri (OFA, JBS, CPO) thinks it’ll probably be voted on at the next committee meeting (which will also probably not include further testimony) so we’ll need to keep watching. The Senate version was introduced yesterday as well, but last I heard it hasn’t yet been assigned to a committee. Still another thing to keep an eye on.

The committee had some questions and a couple repeatedly voiced concerns, enough so that I definitely think we have a good shot at getting this defeated.

Anthony from We Are Change Ohio recorded all of our testimonies and hopes to have a video put together by Friday, I’ll post it here as soon as I get it.
Everybody’s testimonies were GREAT, here are three of them:

Ohio House Judiciary Committee - HJR 8 Opposition Testimony
Frank Koch

Chairman Blessing and members of the House Judiciary Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today in opposition to House Joint Resolution 8.

As fiscal conservative, I’m in complete agreement that something must be done to limit federal spending and reverse our growing $10 trillion dollar debt currently enslaving our country and our children.

I stand before you not against fiscal responsibility, but against the method in which you plan to implement to limit the federal government. A Constitutional Convention is a very deadly tool to use because the states have little power to control which sections of the Constitution will be opened for manipulation. Article V of the Constitution says that only Congress, not the States, can appoint delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The fate of our liberties, freedoms, and rights will be in the hands of these few select delegates who could be ignorant of the law or in the pocket of special interests.

An unbalanced federal budget is caused from irresponsible leadership within Congress and not a flaw within the Constitution. In fact, an unbalanced federal budget is caused directly from not following the Constitution. We’ll be on the right track to fix our $10 trillion dollar debt if we started to cut the wasteful and unconstitutional federal programs such as Department of Education, Department of Energy, and Homeland Security.

Lastly, I would like to point out a potential Trojan horse within the proposed resolution that could render the resolution powerless. Within the resolution it states, “First, the amendment shall require the President to submit and the Congress to adopt only balanced budgets for all federal programs and agencies, except in times of war.” The statement “except times of war” may encourage the President and Congress to start and prolong wars as long as possible to escape the peacetime fiscal restraints. I ask you to please reconsider the wording of this resolution if you choose not to oppose the Constitutional Convention.

In conclusion, I find it quite disturbing how fast this resolution is being pushed through the House. One must proceed slowly and with extreme caution before even considering a radical action such as a Constitutional Convention. America, with a few strokes of the pen, can be transformed from a Constitutional Republic into a Socialist Dictatorship and we’ll be at the complete mercy of the delegates that will change the Constitution as to how they see fit. I, as a liberty loving American, am not willing to take that chance.

Ohio House Judiciary Committee - HJR 8 Opposition Testimony
Robert Owens

I want thank Chairman Blessing and the members of the committee for allowing me to speak today. My name is Robert Owens, I am a lawyer from Delaware, Ohio and I am an active member and leader in a number of Christian conservative organizations that embrace the time tested and proven concepts of limited constitutional government, free enterprise and individual liberty bestowed upon us by our creator. I urge you to vote no on HJR 8.

Here are some of the possible results of a “run away” article 5 convention as described of by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger:

1. Total civilian disarmament.
2. Socialization of industry.
3. Confiscation of private property.
4. Torture of citizens.
5. Suppression of the Press and of Religion

If you started this day unaware of the reasons and legal arguments of a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court that talks of a “run away” convention and,

If you started this day unaware that a totally different ratification process than what you might expect is perfectly lawful and consistent with legal precedent, and

If you started this day unaware that if a article 5 convention is called in the next two years, Nancy Pelosi and her team would get to choose how delegates are selected, how they are paid, where the convention would be held and if the convention were to be held in public or in secret. And,

If you started today unaware that Ohio would be the 33rd state in the history of the republic to call for the convention and that 34 is the magic number to forcibly trigger Congress to call the convention. Then caution is urged.

If any or all of these facts were unknown to you, please do not risk giving Congress a blank check without doing all the research. We are talking about possible political suicide to the conservative movement. This move must be carefully examined, not hurried through a December session without scrutiny.

One point of irony should not be missed in this process. If Congress actually followed the Constitution, we would have a balanced budget and there would be no need for this committee to consider this resolution. What makes anyone think Congress would be limited by new rules if it does not follow the existing ones?

The proposed convention could have devastating effects upon our American tradition of being a free people. This tradition has made us the most prosperous nation and the most charitable nation in the history of the world.

Ohio House Judiciary Committee - HJR 8 Opposition Testimony
Laura Robeson

Chairman Blessing, members of the Committee, I’m here today to speak out in opposition to this bill because of its potentially massive and irreversible ramifications.

While I am certainly in favor of a balanced federal budget, this is not the right way to bring it about. It’s not an error in our Constitution that is resulting in our massive debt, it’s much more complicated than that, and holding a Constitutional Convention will not solve the problem. You would do better to support Ron Paul’s HR 2755 legislation which would abolish the Federal Reserve System and return the monetary power to Congress and the Treasury.

Not only the lack of necessity, but also the speed with which this is being shuffled through is very worrisome. Both the recent banking industry bailouts and the Patriot Act have shown us what can happen when legislation is rushed through before doing proper research and planning. How educated is everybody here on what a Convention really entails? Not since 1787 has there been one, and this was when the Articles of Confederation were completely thrown out. Who’s to say the same won’t be done with our Constitution?

30 states have passed bills similar to HJR 8 and 7 have since realized the danger and rescinded them.

In Alabama’s HJR 347 (2000), it says:
“There is great danger … in opening the Constitution to sweeping changes, the adoption of which would only create legal chaos in this nation and only begin the process of another two centuries of litigation over its meaning and interpretation.”

Idaho’s SCR 129 (1999) states:
“…the Constitution of the United States of America has been amended many times in the history of this nation and may be amended many more times, without the need to resort to a constitutional convention.”

And in New Hampshire’s HCR 12 (2003), it says:
“…the New Hampshire legislature urges all other states that have applied to Congress to call either a general or a limited constitutional convention to repeal and withdraw their applications.”

I strongly urge this committee to heed the advice of our fellow states and vote against this bill.

THANKS to everybody who came out today to testify, esp. those who drove quite a while to make it. I think we made a huge difference, much to their dismay — this isn’t turning out to be a walk in the park as they had hoped.

http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/12/constitution-and-libertarian-parties-of-ohio-among-those-working-to-defeat-a-bill-calling-for-us-constitutional-convention/