Texas Governor Calls For Constitutional Convention To "Wrest Power" From Obama
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.
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I guess I'll ask the question everyone has been thinking. When the fuck does that g0ld depository open and we finally get an audit of the gold in the usa?
Frankly that's the least interesting question in the world.
While convened, I would ask for repeal of the 16th ammendment. Abolish the Federal income tax. Federal taxes should be apportioned to each state. Citizens of each state should be insulated from DC. Federal Reserve Act change all that back in 1913.
Now you are talking. We should also abolish the Federal Reserve. Make a crime to print currency with no value.
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.
The way it was explained to me, we were actually punishing Canada for sending us Justin Bieber.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/01/04/canadian-manufacturing-record-low-recession_n_8911628.html
He wants the Fed to balance their budget but Texas is running a deficit of twenty something billion LOL. Typical grandstanding politician hypocrite scum.
This is the only peaceful way to resolve the huge differences in the country. Two thirds of the states are conservative Republicans and their wishes are overshadowed by a handful of large liberal states. There really is no other way for the two thirds to wrest control.
Unintended consequences much?
A Constitutional Convention at current time would most likely end up shredding the last remnants of the original Constitution still adhered to, and effectively give the POTUS official complete dictatorial powers.
"Remember the Alamo!". Yes, the Mexicans are still remembering and are slowly taking it back.
what happens when i read alinsky too
make the enemy follow rules, that you dont.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T-Epm5B4Ac
what happens when i been waiting for this, what happens when i just met some new guy and he said he made his house ready to blow, or have a 50 cal pointed at the door.
thats just me bumping into talkative types. think on that, or not.
Its americana, like it hate it, im too old to change, im not getting hair dye this week, ill leave it all silver.
I read the bible and the satanic bible, it sounds like dianetics, satanic types are weak, just like all your other books.
I can see it all now......A Constitutional Convention is called by the conservative legislatures of the US, and behind the scenes ALEC takes over to control the process. Kochs win big time.
Abbot's proposed 9 Amendments to the Constitution should be 10.
#10 - It should be a "serious criminal offence" for any federal government to breach or otherwise undermine the Constitution.
In practice this would mean that any new or existing law, regulation, executive order or action would have to pass that test before it could take effect. If already in effect, it would be withdrawn or repealed.
Agree! And it should be punishable by death. why do I say this? sociopath only fear death and nothing else
It's almost laughable that the ACLU would be against a proposal that would restore the balance between the states to whom the governments are slightly more responsive to citizen's needs rather than continue with the status quo which is just an absolute disaster. It makes one think they don't even know what planet they live on.
Girl, puhlease!
The ACLU was the organization that stopped the US from having a one-payer health care system, like other countries, where bankruptcy does not necessarily accompany major illnesses.
Using Oil as a political weapon is as old as the Seven Sisters cartel created during the Scottish Castle Achnacarry meeting in 1928, and the "Red line agreement" it hatched for Ottoman grab; which was expressly formed to avoid OVERPRODUCTION in both USA and Baku.
They, the "Magnificent Seven" Ugly sisters, then cornered OIL all over the world !
So this Texan "I'm a local State before FED Constitutional hilly billy" from the Alamo, who spouts James MAdison, should remember that John COnnolly was wearing his shoes on that fatal day in Dallas... and thats when the Oil lobby openly took over Texan and US politics at the barrel of a gun with a "magical bullet"... We know where that led to : Dear Henry's petrodollar deal after BW panic revoke & USD fiat hegemony based on debt recycling !
Reagan repeated that Oil play in 1983 when he asked Saud to "open wide" Ghawar to kill the Soviets via a price decline and dry their ammo in Afghan war.
It worked and Saud not only played along in Afghan Soviet ouster but also Iran "revenge" caper using Saddam's war on Ayatollah K !
Which backfired with Ominous consequences in Iraq and in Iran that we see even today (Nuclear deal).
So saying now Obama is SPITiNg the face of the Texans by cutting off the nose of world oil price to "get Putin" is a lame excuse.
ITS BEEN PART AND PARCEL OF US OLIGARCHY STRATEGY SINCE 1928 CARTEL.
What riles the neo-con GOP stalwarts is that the chickens are coming home to roost on their Hubris since that day in Dallas Nov 22 "lone gunman" play!
Obama is just a hamstrung president who OK'd the disaster in Libya and then got cold feet in Syria.
As for the Iraqi and Saudi "blowback" its been on the cards since GWB's failed regional Crusade. The Iran/Saud (Sunni/Shia) standoff is a direct result of US/SAUD/SADDAM bad-assing in the Iranian war...
Man UP GOP; your 40 year global OIL strategy is now in tatters and don't look for bogeymen who are just "pale riders"; past shadows of your own hubris.
The Boomerang was invented by the Aboriginals of Aussi land; and can be as lethal like Geronimo's Tomahawk or Sitting Bull's last charge.
What a fucking dumbass. Your a full fucking retard. We are trying to fix this country. Get onboard or fuckoff and move to moscow. Idiot.
Thats my whole point.
You are NOT going to fix the country by trying to "wank" your way out via the RED/BLUE divide.
That route is totally blocked thru past hubris and the toilet cannot be "flushed"... whence my post to get things in perspective.
The real divide now in the West is : Oligarchs vs People.
Its not about GOP/DEMO crap games. The constitution has been raped by both parties.
And to find a response to that : You don't ask an Oligarch to fix it! The GOP is a dead dodo from that perspective.
IMO. Over and out.
And Moscow has only a partial answer to that question : by trying to pull the rug from under the petrodollar and trying to stop the Hubris from spilling over MOAR in SYRAC/ME cauldron.
Putin is just a stop gap to the RESET needed in the West. Don't pretend that Donald has the answer to that.
This is probably the most coherent post you've put up in a while.
Going to take a lot of blood and guts to turn over what happened at Appomattox.
Are yous guys flocking dain bread?!
CONgress, the Kenyan & elephant Usurpers and the Stupreme Cunts have been shredding & wiping with the constitution for decades, running up f19 trillion in debt. But, Gov. Dip$#!+'s "solution" is to trust these same criminal @$$#0le$ to re-write it?!
http://www.jbs.org/issues-pages/no-con-con
No, the solution is for our state legislatures to NULLIFY all federal usurpations, then SECEDE, leaving the Fedcoats with their debt and angry foreign creditors!
http://leagueofthesouth.com/ http://freeflorida.org/
People need to educate themselves on this. It is an idea whose time has come. And contrary to opinions of most fucking retards, you cant just walk into this convention and demand that beer is now free and so are hookers. The agenda of the convention and the proposed amendments have to be agreed upon in advance. Then, the convention is held to iron out details of proposed amendments. It is NOT a constitutional convention where we start from scratch. Also, keep in mind, getting more than half of anyone to agree on anything is a real challenge,so its not going to be easy for anything to get amended. But if the people are behind the amendment, which they would have to be, it at least provides us a method to put the shackles back on DC.. Read the Liberty Amendments by Mark Levin and stop being dumbfucks and posting stupid shit. If we want to end the fed, irs, epa, dept of energy, dept of education, et al, this is the only path. Period. The fed govt will not fix itself. Besides, those idiots in dc have been having a constitutional convention by themselves for quite some time. State power is what keeps the feds in check and its why our country has become what it has regardless of what it has turned into over last 50 years. We can fix this.
He would have more credibility if he got his own house in order first. Texas is not a paragon of private property rights, individualism, and freedom. Where is constitutional carry? Where is drug legalization? Where is elimination of the $50B annually in state taxes it extracts and state government jobs, subsidies, and welfare programs it funds with that?
Texas is at overall #14 on this freedom ranking relative to other states, merely in the top third of states: http://freedominthe50states.org/overall/texas
Victimless Crimes: #44
Regulations: #24
Property Rights: #18
Gun Control: #14
Last but not least, how would the rural counties and cities in Texas be treated if they expressed all the same sentiments, wanting to opt out of the governor's and state legislature's grip on power over them dictating how they are to live their lives?
Abbott is vocal about rulers above him on the pecking order relinquishing their power over Texans. Silent about relinquishing his own power over Texans. This means any power the Feds relinquished would just all accrue back to him and the legislature. How convenient.
Greg Abbott can't be blamed for the sins of his predecessors. The Bush-Perry club lined its pockets with private prisons, No Child Left Behind tests, forced vacinations and other programs.
There are proposals in Texas to legalize marijuana.
Greg Abbott is addressing the corruption on the border, which is far and above the #1 problem in this country, leading right back to the WH and Chicago.
There are massive infastructure programs being done in Texas to provide alternative energy to the residents with new lines and towers.
To suggest that he is trying to control the lives of people in rural counties and cities is unfounded.
Not blaming him for what he inherited. Blaming him for his inaction to repeal, veto, and slash it to the fullest extent of his power over the past year of being in office. Has not happened.
If he actually values local over centralized control, freedom over imposed rules, why does he not enact that very platform at home where he has full control first before launching a long-odds national campaign where he has no control?
I think rural Texans don't share the views of Austin residents any more than they share the views of San Francisco residents. Abbott & legislature imposing statewide law necessarily overriding the wishes of one group of Texans or the other is not different than D.C. imposing nationwide laws overriding the wishes of one group of Americans or another.
I ask Abbott be not a hypocrite. If he actually believes in the principles he's waving around in that pamphlet, he should demonstrate that in his own house.
I want this guy for VP under Trump! The next 16 years!!!
Trump 2016, it can't come soon enough!
All Trump supporters visit: www.ptdradio.com
www.powerthroughdiscipline.com
Govenor Greg Abbott is a shining light in our country. We need a constitutional convention to restore our land to its greatness as a refuge of the free , unbound by the chains of tyrrants ,Obama, Clinton, Hill, Ginsberg, Sotomayor, Kagan ,Pelosi ei al. "This is not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning."
By Monday morning, DHS will label Governor Abbott a terrorist and he will be put on the no fly list for referring to the US Constitution.
ERROR: It's not a "Consitutional Convention", it's a "Convention of the States".
This type of convention can't create or eliminate any parts of the Constitution. All they can do is recommend amendments which must then go thru the normal ratification process.
IMO, good start and good idea for the several States to assemble. It is good to remember that State senators represent their state's security of it's government, and the State representatives are representing the People's security in their State. It is good to know also that Sheriffs are the only elected law enforcement officials, and therefore possess the most power to by oath, protect The People from all threats foreign and domestic-including State or fedgov officials, actions, and corruption. Some sheriffs exercise their authority to prevent fedgov involvement, some don't. It's up to The People to choose sheriffs who will stand against tyranny. The Governor's above listing numbers 3 and 4, prohibiting un-elected bureaucrats from creating or pre-empting laws should be expanded to terminate those positions along with the attached bureaus and departments. Note the original Constitutional Articles numbered 11th and 12th:
Article the eleventh... The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Article the twelfth... The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
I take this to mean that the writers of the Constitution being We The People are endowed with the base of power to consent to only certain powers delegated to their States' governments and to only certain powers delegated to the fedgov. People must demand referendum votes to make known their opinions toward wars, policies, laws, projects and programs. This makes for a lot of informing of issues and voting duty of The People (which the local news media should do). All government employees are employed by The People and are not our leaders, they work to enact and perform the will of The People, and if they are found to be un-satisfactory, they are easily fired and replaced.
Progressives seek to restrict their own freedoms, handing control of their lives fortunes and families to criminals infesting government. Don't forget, government has murdered more than all wars combined. Yeah, that's what we need, right?
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/
The progressive stupid, it burns
Grimaldus
I applaud Governor Abbot. The more voices heard calling out the crimes committed by the Federal Government the better.
I think the voices are going to get loud soon.
Progressives---- watch out and think before you commit crimes or aid and abet blatantly dishonest felons like Hillary Clinton. It is gonna bite you in the ass.
The progressive stupid, it burns.
Grimaldus
It is a step in the right direction, but it is not going to work, it is too little, and too late.
The only way for states to secrure their rights is by seceedeing.
I believe by the end of this century North America is going to look a lot more like Europe, with several, maybe as many as a dosen nations sharing the continent. One of which will almost certianly be named "Texas" and none of them will be called "the united states"
They can't just secede.
First, they have to make it look like they tried to fix the problem.
On a side note , in Hawaii
This all began in Hawaii in 2011 when Act 195 was passed. It called for an election to take place in Hawaii but specified that only indigenous Native Hawaiians could vote. The purpose of the election was to enable Native Hawaiians to exercise their right to self-determination and discuss Tribal Nation self-governance. The election would choose 40 delegates to an aha, or constitutional convention.
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/01/obama_administration_pro...
"....gotta have fiddle in the band".
Meh. Lamp post ornaments is a good start.
This country is like a girscout jamboree....here they are, all sitting around a campfire roasting marshmellows, making smores and singing songs...happy-happy. And like any campfire one can only see so far past the bright fire into the surrounding darkness where jackals are beginning to circle. Few have any idea of what's about to happen.
The campfire is the media....the girlscouts are Americans and the jackals surrounding the girlscouts about to be eaten....you know....
There isn't anyone that will be chosen to be a part of the convention to save us that will be any better than the founding fathers who wrote the original Constitution of the USA so NO it's not a good idea. More of We The People need to demand from our local and state politicians that they do so. A combination of some civil disobedience wouldn't hurt either. If the first Constitution isn't goging to be adnered too I can't understand why anyone would think a second one would do us any good.
He's just telling y'all what he thinks you wanna hear. Just another political psychopath trying to get more power for himself and his cronies.
You need to do only one thing :
Right To Recall
And then see politicians cringe & beg you