Term Limits

Would you like to see term limits enacted on members of the United States Congress, perhaps even on members of the Supreme Court, the federal judiciary? 75% of the American people answer "Yes" when polled with the straight up question: "Do you support Term Limits for members of the United States Congress?"

  

I can almost guarantee that if we get an Article V Convention, this alone will cause most of those 535 members of Congress to wet their pants.

 

In theory, there is nothing wrong with keeping a good public servant in office for as long as the official and we the voters want him or her there. But through gerrymandering of House districts, congressional perks, a ton of free media, incumbents are simply ridiculously hard to remove from office.  Our framers NEVER envisioned elected officials to make a career of serving in Congress and this practice has led to a power drunk United States Congress that in many ways appears to be in intentional collusion with the other branches in order to maintain power, whether it be in minority party of the majority party.

  

Do you think the United States Congress will EVER propose such an amendment via the U.S. Congress? The vast majority of our current 535 members of both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate are staggering, falling down drunk on the intoxicating effects of Congressional perks and power.

 

Article V of The United States Constitution provides a second mode for proposing amendments that has never been used. Today, there are many who have never studied or even read Article V that are fearful of using the mode because like most things that are feared, they simply do not understand it. I don't say this disparagingly other than that it is very frustrating that many that oppose this...when I talk to them and explain it...they never knew that it was actually IN the Constitution.  They say that we need to use the process whereby Congress proposes amendments and sends them to the states...they talk about "opening up the Constitution" when we use this process. That kind of talk betrays their misunderstanding or lack of understanding altogether on Article V.  The second mode that involves the states is no different than the first mode whereby the U.S. Congress proposes amendments, the ONLY difference being that the amendments would come from the states without ANY participation by the United States Congress.  That thought almost makes me want to do cartwheels.  But here is the thing that most don't seem to understand.  An Article V COS cannot change one word of the Constitution on its own.  Just like all 27 of our current amendments that came from the U.S. Congress, any amendment coming from a COS MUST be sent back to all 50 states for ratification and a minimum of 3/4ths (38) would have to ratify them for any of them to take effect.

 

An Article V Convention of States could more than likely move such an amendment to the states in the first few days of a Convention...I suspect it would be the kind of "low hanging fruit" that could be proposed as an amendment and pumped out to the states for ratification almost immediately. Then 38 states would have to ratify such an amendment for term limits to be part of the United States Constitution.

  

I am the State Director in South Carolina for the Convention of States Project. Many other states right now have someone just like me doing the same thing. You can volunteer as a District Captain here in South Carolina or in any state that now has a growing grassroots COS movement. Help us do this by signing up at www.conventionofstates.com