Our government is broken and Congress, gripped by rigid partisanship, is unable to initiate the reforms needed to fix it. In this situation, the Constitution gives the People the authority to take action (through state legislatures) by calling a convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution.
This website lays out a path to this convention; it discredits the fear of a “runaway” convention and lays out the legal basis of an open convention that may consider all suggestions for reform presented to it. The convention will be a glorious celebration of the strength of our republic!
An Assessment
The bitter partisanship in Washington today has corrupted our federal government, and it has diminished the central position of the People with an all-consuming struggle for power by the major political parties. Their thirst for power has crippled our ability to rationally solve our national problems. Consider these few examples of the sorry state of our affairs:
-
Our nation’s finances are in shambles. The national debt stands at more than $75,000 for every man, woman, and child in America (that’s $300,000 for a family of four!).
-
Our elected officials elevate their own political careers above the best interests of those they represent. They typically spend more time raising election campaign funds and courting special interests than doing their job of studying, debating, and crafting policy, and serving their constituents.
-
Our republic is built on the rule of law, yet its enforcement against federal officials is thwarted by political partisanship. As a result, federal officials operate with little restraint in their actions, and Washington may be caricatured as a children’s rumpus room that lacks any discipline.
-
The federal government imposes obligations on the states without their consent. As a result, only one in eight state legislators wants the federal government to be more involved in state and local issues.
-
Unaccountable federal agencies exercise vast power and undermine our sense of fairness. More often than not, their rules and regulations are developed and enforced with little transparency or oversight.
When we honestly and realistically face the facts, we must acknowledge that we are in an existential crisis that could determine whether we remain a vibrant republic with a promising future, or a tired nation whose best days are past. But the choice is ours: we can ignore all of the warning signs and continue to drift into a twilight zone of national decay or we can assert the People’s sovereign power and impose new rules on Washington: rules of accountability, discipline, transparency, civility, and the rule of law.
Background
About 25 years ago, a few concerned citizens began efforts to repair the government through constitutional amendments, and this citizen-led movement (with others that followed suit) has been unsuccessfully struggling ever since to repair our failing government. But, unfortunately, those reformers were led to follow a process that appears to be a dead end showing little promise for success. And we might point out that even if they are successful the reforms they achieve would be narrow in scope with a very poor effort/reward ratio.
But a solution has been found that will enable broad reforms to be presented to our sovereign People. This solution will convene an “open” convention of states to consider all proposed amendments that are presented to it. The Gordian knot that blocks all reform efforts today will be cut, and every legitimate reform voice will be heard and respected. Amendments approved by the convention would then be presented to the states for their consideration and possible ratification.
The Constitution sets a high bar for ratification: three-fourths of the states (38) must agree with the change for a proposal to become law. This strenuous vetting process was designed to ensure that before any new amendment is ratified it must have broad support from the American people. That is the way our republic was designed, and it is comforting to know we have this depth of protection against any scurrilous attempt to subvert or damage the Constitution.
An open convention is the key to successful reform, and this website makes the case for this form of convention. The website will also offer you the opportunity to support this drive for reform; we hope you will accept the challenge and join us.
Our companion website (act2reform.org) describes five amendments that will be presented to the convention when it is convened, along with proposals from other reform movements. That national forum will enable us to bring together the best thinking of the country to address our most serious problems.