Texas Governor Calls For Constitutional Convention To "Wrest Power" From Obama

Tyler Durden's picture




 

When it comes to Texas' relationship with the Federal government, the word "rocky" comes to mind. And nobody embodies said rockiness better than Texas governor Greg Abbott, who recently made headlines after announcing that irrelevant of D.C.'s demands, Texas would refuse to accept any Syrian refugees.

This followed his announcement earlier this summer 2015 when fears over nebulous Federal intentions with operation "Jade Helm" were running high, that "to address concerns that Texas citizens and to ensure that Texas communities remain safe, secure, and informed about military procedures occurring in their vicinity, I am directing the state guard to monitor Operation Jade Helm 15."

Prior to this, Abbott was again in the news back in June when he signed a bill into law that would allow Texas to build a gold and silver bullion depository, which would allow Texas to repatriate $1 billion worth of bullion from the New York Fed to the new facility once completed.

In short: the Federal government and the state of Texas have been on collision course of many months, one which culminated on Friday when Abbott called for a Constitutional Convention of states, spearheaded by Texas, and which would amend the U.S. Constitution to wrest power from a federal government "run amok."

To achieve that, Abbott proposed nine amendments to "restore the Rule of Law and return the Constitution to its intended purpose."

“If we are going to fight for, protect and hand on to the next generation, the freedom that [President] Reagan spoke of … then we have to take the lead to restore the rule of law in America,” Abbott said, cited by the Dallas News, during a speech at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Policy Orientation that drew raucous applause from the conservative audience. He said he will ask lawmakers to pass a bill authorizing Texas to join other states calling for a Convention of States.

According to the Hill, Abbott said that "the increasingly frequent departures from Constitutional principles are destroying the Rule of Law foundation on which this country was built,” said Abbott in a statement. We are succumbing to the caprice of man that our Founders fought to escape. The cure to these problems will not come from Washington D.C. Instead, the states must lead the way.”

Along with the speech, Abbott released a nearly 70-page plan – part American civics lesson, part anti-Obama diatribe – detailing nine proposed constitutional amendments that he said "would unravel the federal government’s decades-long power grab and restore authority over economic regulation and other matters to the states."

"The irony for our generation is that the threat to our Republic doesn’t come just from foreign enemies, it comes, in part, from our very own leaders," Abbott said in a speech that took aim at President Obama, Congress and the judicial branch.

Abbott's nine proposed amendments are:

  • Prohibit congress from regulating activity that occurs wholly within one state.
  • Require Congress to balance its budget.
  • Prohibit administrative agencies from creating federal law.
  • Prohibit administrative agencies from pre-empting state law.
  • Allow a two-thirds majority of the states to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
  • Require a seven-justice super-majority vote for U.S. Supreme Court decisions that invalidate a democratically enacted law
  • Restore the balance of power between the federal and state governments by limiting the former to the powers expressly delegated to it in the Constitution.
  • Give state officials the power to sue in federal court when federal officials overstep their bounds.
  • Allow a two-thirds majority of the states to override a federal law or regulation.

For those unfamiliar, a Constitutional Convention is one of two ways that the U.S. Constitution can be amended, and it’s described in Article V. One way is that Congress can propose amendments approved by two-thirds of the members of both chambers. The other method allows two-thirds of the state legislatures to call for a convention to propose amendments. Republicans backing the idea are confident that because they control state government in a majority of states, their ideas would prevail.

In both cases, the amendments become effective only if ratified by three-fourths of the states. Indicatively, of the 27 times the Constitution has been amended, none was generated by a constitutional convention.

Abbott is not the first to propose a convention: the idea has been gaining traction among some among conservative Republicans, comes just as the GOP presidential candidates begin to make forays into Texas ahead of the March primary election. The state, with 155 delegates up for grabs, will certainly be a key player in the party’s nominating process.

Earlier this week presidential contender Marco Rubio published a piece in USA Today endorsing the idea of a convention to amend the Constitution and restore limited government. In April, 27 active petitions had been filed with Congress seeking a convention to amend the constitution to require that Congress adopt a balanced budget.

Congress would be forced to act once 34 states joined the effort. So far, Cruz hasn’t endorsed the idea.

A convention, Abbott wrote, would force the federal government to “take the Constitution seriously again... The only true downside comes from doing nothing and allowing the federal government to continue ignoring the very document that created it,” Abbott wrote.

To be sure many conservatives agree with Abbott's posture that the only way to limit the powers of the Federal government is to resuscitate state power .

Of course, whereas Republicans are seeking to limit the role and power of government, Democrats demand just the opposite, and were quick to denounce Abbott’s plan Friday, saying the governor has misplaced priorities.

“America added 292,000 new jobs in December. But under Abbott, Texas fell to sixth in job creation, remains the uninsured capitol of the nation, wages and incomes remain far too low for hardworking families, our neighborhood schools are still underfunded, and college education is slipping out of reach,” Texas Democratic Party Deputy Executive Director Manny Garcia said in a statement. “Texas families deserve serious solutions, not Tea Party nonsense.”

What Manny Garcia did not add is that while oil was above $100, Texas was the state that had generated the most jobs under the Obama administration, and if it hadn't been for the Kerry-Saudi Arabia secret meetings which put into play the collapse in the price of oil, meant to cripple Russia but crushing US shale instead, Texas would continue to create record numbers of jobs.

However, since this is high politics, facts be damned, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas issued a statement with similar sentiment. “Governor Abbott, as Texans, we prefer the Framers’ plan. Don’t mess with the Constitution,” said Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas.

A small but vocal Republican minority has also opined against the idea of a constitutional convention: last year, House legislators filed measures calling for such a convention. Texas senator Craig Estes unleashed a screed against the proposal when it came before the Senate State Affairs Committee in May. He compared the idea to “a petulant teenager who’s lost a few basketball games and plans to burn down the gymnasium.”

“The constitution has served us well for over 200 years. The problem is not the constitution,” Estes said, adding that the solution is to elect more conservative lawmakers. “Slap a bumper sticker for Ted Cruz on your car and get after it and knock yourself out.”

Estes went on to promise a filibuster if the measure came to the Senate floor.

Whether Abbott's proposal will gain steam and ultimately succeed is unknown, but it is virtually certain that the more the Obama administration governs via executive orders and other means to bypass the Legislative and short circuit the US government, the more powerful the grass-roots response at the state level will be, until eventually there is enough anger at the dysfunctional U.S. government at the 34 required states to do precisely as the Texan wants... that, or Trump is voted into the Oval Office as a protest against everything that is broken with the current political status quo.

4.666665
Your rating: None Average: 4.7 (24 votes)
 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Sat, 01/09/2016 - 21:13 | 7023873 crossroaddemon
crossroaddemon's picture

This, this, this.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 22:16 | 7024042 Buster Cherry
Buster Cherry's picture

Too much TeeVee comrade.

You need to get out in the sun some more.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 22:17 | 7024046 Texar1991
Texar1991's picture

I'm from Texas, and one of the reasons I like Texas is because there's no one in control.

Willie Nelson

.... The way it should be.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 23:01 | 7024194 you know they a...
you know they are lying because they are talking's picture

Well said man.

Texas...the state most similar to Saudi Arabia. Think their badarses...until the oil runs out, or the price of it drops.

Sun, 01/10/2016 - 01:36 | 7024452 YouThePeople
YouThePeople's picture

You talk a lot of shit for a numbnuts who doesn't even know who wrote and played Inna Gadda Da Vida. 'Fuckwit'

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:45 | 7023613 90's Child
90's Child's picture

Yet nothing about the Fed?

Don't wanna bite the hand that feeds you?

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:09 | 7023685 Jurgster
Jurgster's picture

This is the reason the corrupt FED does whatever it pleases>>  https://goo.gl/2SIIh0

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:47 | 7023615 KesselRunin12Parsecs
KesselRunin12Parsecs's picture

Cute, but as soon as a Bilderberger stuffs his offshore account with 8or9 figures in printed fiat, his tune will change.

 

So basically, we're all NORK dictators now.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:47 | 7023623 besnook
besnook's picture

i think they might send him nailguns for his birthday instead. it's cheaper.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:52 | 7023644 KesselRunin12Parsecs
KesselRunin12Parsecs's picture

OK, then they'll buy a $12 million dollar nail gun from an Israeli company, charge it to the US taxpayer, & have him shoot himself TWICE in the back of the head with it (on Martin Luther King Day, while the media is covering Obama's latest crocodile tears).

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:46 | 7023618 besnook
besnook's picture

and one guy's solution is to elect a canadian for potus.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:57 | 7023655 Bear
Bear's picture

Well we haven't got a good one from the lower 48 since ole Ike

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:46 | 7023780 Debt-Is-Not-Money
Debt-Is-Not-Money's picture

RR started off good but two months into it he was shot; GHW Bush took over and never relinquished (remember he was DCI before).

Ever since the JFK assassination CIA...

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:46 | 7023619 GhostOfDiogenes
GhostOfDiogenes's picture

Anyone who trusts this cuck shyster right wing lying lawyer who sued someone because a tree he was walking under fell on his dumb ass and made him wheel chair bound deserves what is coming for them.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:11 | 7023689 Joe Mama 3
Joe Mama 3's picture

you ain't lying !!!!!!!!!   This nigga brought back debtors prisons to Texas and every court in Texas pisses on the Constitution every time they're holding court !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:48 | 7023620 Scooby Dooby Doo
Scooby Dooby Doo's picture

Good lord this guy crazy? This country would be nothing without our friends on the Federal level!

3 cheers for our Federal government:

Hip-hip-horray!

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:56 | 7023653 GhostOfDiogenes
Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:49 | 7023629 Rich from PDT
Rich from PDT's picture

This guy is great, cut off funding to sanctuary sheriffs in Dallas, tells Obama to come and take it holding a shotgun, and now this! I love this guy.

Trump 2016!!!

All Trump supporters visit: www.ptdradio.com
www.powerthroughdiscipline.com

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:50 | 7023635 nmewn
nmewn's picture

So, ummm, any ideas on why they manufacture all cell phones now that don't allow the owner of the phone to turn of "Presidential Alerts"?

Jus checkin ;-)

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:54 | 7023647 Bear
Bear's picture

Dark Pools

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:01 | 7023664 nmewn
nmewn's picture

lol...yeah, it's still kinda cool that they think they're tracking "the folks" with them though.

For instance, right now they think I'm in Omaha ;-)

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:59 | 7023833 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

Private Equity?

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:57 | 7023656 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Where there's a will, there's a way (to turn the GD thing off).

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:07 | 7023680 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Yeah, I think there is too...unfortunately it involves an EMP strike. But on the bright side I won't be getting a "Presidential Alert" telling me about ït ;-)

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:24 | 7023722 blue51
blue51's picture

What is this Alert, you speak of ??  Thanks in advance.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:58 | 7023832 nmewn
nmewn's picture
"Can consumers block WEAs?

Partially. Participating wireless carriers may offer subscribers with WEA-capable handsets the ability to block alerts involving imminent threats to safety of life and/or AMBER Alerts; however, consumers cannot block emergency alerts issued by the President.

Why can't consumers block WEAs issued by the President?

In passing the WARN Act, Congress allowed participating carriers to offer subscribers the capability to block all WEAs except those issued by the President."

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/wireless-emergency-alerts-wea

As the MSM hacks at NBC like to say, "the more you know"...lol.

And...BitCoin...or sumpin ;-)

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:53 | 7023645 Demdere
Demdere's picture

There is no politician in the US who is trustworthy enough to allow near any change to the US Constitution.

We citizens have to take back the government first and clean all of the Deep State and Israeli-Neocon influences out of the social, busiiness and government worlds.  Then we can decide what to do with the Constitution, which clearly needs some improvements in citizen's ability to push back against over-reach.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 22:37 | 7024119 nevadan
nevadan's picture

Agree 100% that there is precious little in the way of wisdom in the current crop of "leaders".  Abbott is right to call for the states to stand up but most of the problems in DC could be addressed simply by using the 10th amendment and nullification of any extra-constitutional activity by the Federal government.  If it isn't given to the Feds expressly it is in the pervue of the states and the people.   Just say no, like he is doing with the refugees.  Of course the the last time the states stood up for their rights it resulted in the War of Northern Agression and Texas didn't come out to well in that one.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:55 | 7023649 Bear
Bear's picture

We don't need to change it ... Just abide by it

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 21:38 | 7023942 sunnyside
sunnyside's picture

+10000

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:59 | 7023657 XitSam
XitSam's picture

"A convention, Abbott wrote, would force the federal government to “take the Constitution seriously again..."

Exactly how? They already ignore the Constitution.  Do stricter gun laws keep guns out of criminals hands?  Do laws keep jihadis from going to fight for ISIS? So exactly how?

He wants amendments, then propose them separately without a convention.

https://publiushuldah.wordpress.com 


Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:25 | 7023724 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

There are lots of solutions, none of which will ever be allowed to happen or actually work. I tend to agree that the best we can hope from government at this point is nothing....nothing at all. A do nothing congress and an absentee president would be the very best.

AS it is, Obama does as he wishes and then tells us..."Sue Me", and as we have seen, even when he loses the suite, he just ignores that ruling and tells them to sue him again. It is hopeless at this point and at best we can all hope for a dictator of OUR dreams.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 22:08 | 7024020 Buster Cherry
Buster Cherry's picture

You may be on to something...what's your state governor's proposal?

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 19:59 | 7023659 RiverRoad
RiverRoad's picture

Senators.  Please channel Rome re Caesar.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:05 | 7023669 Mr.BlingBling
Mr.BlingBling's picture

Proposing a Constitutional Convention indicates he’s someone’s tool because his proposal is the equivalent of new gun laws.  The criminals violate existing laws so what’s the real purpose of new laws? 

What .gov is doing now (e.g. President acting as judge and jury executes US citizens without trial) is clearly unconstitutional yet it’s permitted.  WTF?  Seriously, WTF?

A CC is too risky given the tremendous level of corruption that also exists at the state level.  Remember, a CC puts EVERYTHING up for grabs, including the Bill of Rights (de jure at least.).  So what's the real purpose of opening up the Constitution to wholesale change? 

I'm sure it's for the children, but still . . .

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:05 | 7023674 SmittyinLA
SmittyinLA's picture

Why not recall your 2 worthless senators that allow criminal invasion in the millions and have given Texas more COP debt than CA?

Guns to the Mexican mafia-pass
Muslim immigration pass
Ebola immigration pass
MDR-TB immigration pass

TED Cruz is sub prime wallpaper, ugly Canadian wallpaper, a member of a body that's outright hostile to the constitution and Americans.

Then there's the declining TX job market, air quality and "invasion drought" (invasion caused drought).

Coming soon widespread manufacturing closures on account of carbon taxes.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 22:06 | 7024015 Buster Cherry
Buster Cherry's picture

Gotta love a guy in LA throwing rocks at Texas.

 

ooh, ow ! and stuff like that....

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:09 | 7023688 new game
new game's picture

term limits and money, supreme courts interpretations. his proposals tries to address some of this.

so uphill,,,

so depressing,,,

cause what should happen never seems to happen.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:13 | 7023698 I AM SULLY
I AM SULLY's picture

GOV Abbot - you have the laws you need to do what's right.

Start with the 10th Amendment, and go from there.

You free TEXAS, I'll take my tax dollars there.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:41 | 7023767 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

States, like everyone else, have found themselves dependent upon the corruption that most hate. They (and we) can make empty demands and proposals that we know will never be fulfilled to make us FEEL like we have principles, but we do not. Few if any will actually make sacrifices for principle, and if they do so, in many cases it is only in hope of higher returns in the future. The whole world has been turned into a casino, where profits are to be made through speculation, not labor, not productivity or even innovation, unless it is a new innovative way of duping others into surrendering the rights to their remaining productivity.

We must understand and ACCEPT that we are an integral part of the corruption, that none of it can work without us. And even those who do understand this are still waiting for everyone else to actually take actions to stop it first.

This has been a long course of choices with each opportunity to choose for freedom rejected for wealth or convenience or simple desire to enjoy the illusion of the warm and secure embrace of the greater power, be it in the form of government or corporations. Judicial systems to protect us from law breakers, agencies to protect us from ourselves, corporations to provide secure and mindless job security. Anything accept actually taking care of ourselves. We even feel we must "invest" in the stock market rather than ourselves...for security. And when the warm embrace starts to feel a bit restrictive and somewhat less safe than we first believed, we jerk away, to only find the warm embrace has turned into violent grasping and restraint.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:21 | 7023714 AustrianJim
AustrianJim's picture

Why is this guy not running for President?

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:26 | 7023727 BOPOH
BOPOH's picture

Chains to people!

Money to bankers!

Space to astronauts!

Water to fish!

And I can go on and on and on...

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:27 | 7023728 nevertheless
nevertheless's picture

Texans are just idiots, they gave us Bush and then tried to give us Perry, what is wrong with them, they elect pure idiots...

 

Obama is terrible, but only because he is too much like Bush with his push for war and "signing statements". 

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 21:25 | 7023903 buzzardsluck
buzzardsluck's picture

LOL, 'elect'.  You are a fucking moron

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 21:28 | 7023908 Wile
Wile's picture

The controlling illuminati gave you both Bush's and Obama.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 21:57 | 7023987 Buster Cherry
Buster Cherry's picture

You're an idiot.

Texans don't send people into national office. People just like YOU do.

Asswipe. Learn to read. Then take a civics lesson.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 22:26 | 7024080 Wild E Coyote
Wild E Coyote's picture

You miss the point. They select Bush becuase he seemed like an idiot and cannot control them. And they were right.

Texans dont like to be told what to do.

But Americans elected Bush. Bush like an idiot let the Evil Masters control America. 

You can't blame Texans for that.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:28 | 7023729 WolfgangCire
WolfgangCire's picture

Governor Abbott is not telling it like it is: Why didn't Governor Abbott say anything about the US Congress' failure to convene the Constitutional Convention, as required under Article V? Or about the fact that the Constitution of 1789 is not in effect because US Congress has declared a state of emergency continuously since 1861, or that the states have taken away citizens' property?

 

anyways, almost everyone in north america will die from radiation soon unless e.t. decides to help. hello! we are beyond human repairs now.

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:30 | 7023738 saldulilem
saldulilem's picture

Secede already, many will follow suit

Sat, 01/09/2016 - 20:38 | 7023762 indio007
indio007's picture

lot unintended consequences on those ideas. Ain't never going to happen but I'm curious what is the representation numbers wise? Every state get 2 votes? 1 vote? or what?

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!