Attorney: ‘Congress is dysfunctional, folks’
Tea Party members are enthusiastic about the Article V movement to call a constitutional convention.
Rome Tea Party members left their Tuesday meeting committed to support the “Article V movement.”
It’s a catch-all phrase referencing a provision that allows amendments to the U.S. Constitution through the actions of states instead of Congress.
“Congress is dysfunctional, folks,” Rome attorney David Guldenschuh said. “Until the states step up, there’s nothing I see that’s going to stop it except a world war or we go off the financial cliff.”
Guldenschuh, the speaker of the day, works with two of the Article V groups. One is seeking a balanced budget amendment, and the other wants to institute term limits. He also publishes a national newsletter tracking how close each of the nine groups are to success.
Once 34 states pass resolutions demanding it, Congress must call a constitutional convention. If representatives of 26 of the 50 states agree on an amendment, it gets sent around for ratification, which takes 38 states.
Mike Morton, a cofounder of the RTP, expressed surprise that the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force appears to be farthest along, with resolutions passed in 28 states including Georgia.
“I would say term limits — if you ask the people, that’s what they want,” he said.
Only Florida has passed a resolution calling for a convention on term limits, although legislation is pending in Illinois, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.
Senate Bill 2, authored by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, passed that chamber 31 to 19 this year and will be considered by the House in 2018. Opponents were mainly Democrats, but three Republicans voted “no” as well.
Guldenschuh didn’t comment on the Georgia Senate vote, but he told the group that the Article V Movement is fighting on two fronts.
Liberals don’t want a return to constitutional principles, he said, and two ultra-conservative groups — the John Birch Society and Eagle Forum — are afraid any convention would open the door for an attack on the Bill of Rights.
“The idea of a runaway convention is so prevalent,” Guldenschuh said. “We have to get one done to prove we can stick to a single subject. Then, I think, the dam breaks.”
The BBA Task Force has the best path to a convention, he said, and there will be a concerted push to bring aboard five or six more states next year.
Guldenschuh predicted the John Birch conservatives in Idaho and Montana will be the hardest to convince, and said fundraising would be key. He drew applause and promises when he urged the group to get involved.
While the Constitution’s 27 amendments all came about through congressional action, a number of attendees said they’re no longer counting on the federal legislative body as an agent of change.
“There is not enough courage there,” Randy Smith said about the U.S. House and Senate. “They have everything they need, and they won’t do anything.”