{"id":1288775,"date":"2022-02-10T14:39:06","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T19:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1288775"},"modified":"2022-02-10T14:44:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T19:44:23","slug":"rally-in-tally-florida-team-members-urge-legislators-and-americans-to-support-a-convention-of-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rally-in-tally-florida-team-members-urge-legislators-and-americans-to-support-a-convention-of-states\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Rally in Tally\u2019: Florida Team Members Urge Legislators and Americans to Support a Convention of States"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frally-in-tally-florida-team-members-urge-legislators-and-americans-to-support-a-convention-of-states%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1288775&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>&#8216;It&#8217;s about our future. It&#8217;s about our existence. It&#8217;s about getting back to our founding as our founders intended.&#8217;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>TALLAHASSEE, Florida\u2014Despite chilly winds and overcast skies, around 50 Convention of States Action team members gathered for what has become known as the Rally in Tally, to urge legislators and Americans to support a Convention of States.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, Feb. 8, Florida Convention of States (COS) team members gathered for their annual visit to the state capital in Tallahassee, otherwise known as the Rally in Tally. For Brenda Karlin\u2014a regional director for the COS organization in Florida\u2014the day began at&nbsp;7 a.m. with a prayer service on the 22nd floor of the Florida State Capitol building. At 8 a.m. Karlin met with legislators to deliver information packets and to observe legislative proceedings from the gallery. By 11 a.m., Karlin\u2019s group had set up a table in the courtyard by the Capitol Steps and by 11:30, over 50 team members had gathered to share their enthusiasm for a movement that is nearly 10 years in the making and may finally be nearing fruition.&nbsp; As she sat in a quiet conference room, beyond the cacophonous din of voices exploding through the expansive marbled lobby of the Capitol Building, Karlin shared her thoughts about what could be a historic calling for a Convention of States.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4268535\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/10\/Brenda-1200x900.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4268535\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/10\/Brenda-600x450.jpg\" alt=\"Brenda in the lobby of the Capitol Building in Tallahassee, Florida on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Brenda Karlin in the lobby of the Capitol Building in Tallahassee, Fla., on Feb. 8, 2022. (Patricia Tolson\/The Epoch Times)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cOur Constitution currently has 27 amendments,\u201d Karlin told The Epoch Times. \u201cThis is a process under our Constitution to propose amendments to the Constitution. There have been other Conventions of State, but they came because Congress saw the writing on the wall and decided to put something in that addressed whatever an issue was. But this will be the very first Convention of States that will go through the entire process of holding an Article Five Convention of <em>the states<\/em> to propose amendments to our Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are three specific proposed amendments. The first proposal Karlin said \u201cis for term limits for Congress and the bureaucracy of unelected officials behind them.\u201d The second proposed amendment would call for fiscal responsibility. \u201cThat means more than just a balanced budget,\u201d Karlin asserted. \u201d You have to have some fiduciary responsibility with our tax dollars, controlling spending, not spending more than you\u2019re taking in.\u201d The third proposed amendment would address federal overreach.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/article-5\/\">Article V<\/a> of the United States Constitution states that \u201cwhenever two thirds of both Houses\u201d of Congress \u201cshall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution.\u201d As the Founding Fathers knew members of Congress would try to exceed their constitutional authority, they also made sure the United States Constitution provided that constitutional amendments can be proposed by \u201ctwo thirds\u201d of the existing states. As we currently have 50 states, at least 34 of them would have to get the measure passed through committees and their respective Houses and Senates and then they would have to \u201cratified by the Legislatures of three fourths\u201d of said 50 states before they were actually added as amendments to the Constitution.&nbsp; It\u2019s a long and tedious process. It was intended to be that way. Yet while some argue that this endeavor is \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.freedomfirstsociety.org\/the-danger-of-a-convention-of-states\/\">dangerous<\/a>\u201d and claim the United States Constitution is being \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/resource\/u-s-constitution-threatened-as-article-v-convention-movement-nears-success\/\">threatened<\/a> as Article V Convention movement nears success,\u201d others\u2014like Karlin\u2014insist the Founding Fathers drafted Article V expressly for moments like now, when \u201cpeople are getting tired of government, particularly the federal government, being in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As it stands, <a href=\"https:\/\/conventionofstates.com\/news\/halfway-there-convention-of-states-movement-hits-historic-milestone-in-fight-to-rein-in-federal-power#:~:text=The%20Convention%20of%20States%20movement%20has%20officially%20reached,limit%20the%20terms%20of%20office%20for%20federal%20officials\">17 of the requisite 34 states<\/a> have called for a Convention of States. They are:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Georgia March 6, 2014<\/li>\n<li>Alaska April 19, 2014<\/li>\n<li>Florida April 21, 2014<\/li>\n<li>Alabama May 22, 2015<\/li>\n<li>Tennessee February 4, 2016<\/li>\n<li>Indiana February 29, 2016<\/li>\n<li>Oklahoma April 25, 2016<\/li>\n<li>Louisiana May 25, 2016<\/li>\n<li>Arizona March 12, 2017<\/li>\n<li>North Dakota March 24, 2017<\/li>\n<li>Texas May 4, 2017<\/li>\n<li>Missouri May 12, 2017<\/li>\n<li>Arkansas February 14, 2019<\/li>\n<li>Utah March 5, 2019<\/li>\n<li>Mississippi March 27, 2019<\/li>\n<li>Wisconsin January 25, 2022<\/li>\n<li>Nebraska January 28, 2022<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4268540\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/10\/Screenshot-2022-02-07-103501Convention-of-States-Map.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4268540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Screenshot-2022-02-07-103501Convention-of-States-Map-600x413-1.png\" alt=\"COS map of the states regarding the Convention of States movement.\" width=\"600\" height=\"413\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4268540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Screenshot-2022-02-07-103501Convention-of-States-Map-600x413-1.png\" alt=\"COS map of the states regarding the Convention of States movement.\" width=\"600\" height=\"413\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> COS map of the states regarding the Convention of States movement. (With permission of the COS organization.)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe just passed two more, so we have a total of 17,\u201d&nbsp;Karlin exclaimed, \u201cand we\u2019re very excited as momentum picks up and people become more aware of what Convention of States is all about and how important it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/conventionofstates.com\/states-that-have-passed-the-convention-of-states-article-v-application\">States currently considering the Convention of States Resolution<\/a> in 2022 are Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.<\/p>\n<p>States in which the Convention of States Application has passed in one chamber but not the other are New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, New Hampshire, and most recently, <a href=\"https:\/\/conventionofstates.com\/news\/breaking-south-dakota-house-passes-convention-of-states-resolution-it-s-time-to-do-something-legislator-says\">South Dakota<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4268564\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/10\/ManWithFlag-1200x1600.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4268564\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ManWithFlag-600x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"A COS team member holds the American Flag during the Rally in Tally on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4268564\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ManWithFlag-600x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"A COS team member holds the American Flag during the Rally in Tally on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> A Convention of States Action team member holds the American Flag during the Rally in Tally on Feb. 8, 2022. (Patricia Tolson\/The Epoch Times)<\/figure>\n<p>Karlin works with the teams in seven of the 17 passed states to grow grassroots awareness.&nbsp;As Florida signed on in April of 2014, Karlin was asked why COS continues to hold their Rally in Tally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPassing the resolution is just the beginning,\u201d Karlin explained. \u201cIt\u2019s about self-governance. We call ourselves a \u2018passed state.\u2019 But we have to continue to build our relationship with our legislators and we need to continue to educate our fellow Floridians, our fellow countrymen, on what Convention of States is all about and what it means to be self-governing under our Constitution to retain our liberty. We also help other states that haven\u2019t passed yet on how to do that. Mainly it\u2019s about continuing a relationship with our legislators and educating our fellow Floridians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To Karlin, the Convention of States momentum is largely successful due to the grassroots work being done by organizations such as hers in increasing awareness. \u201cWe are an activist organization,\u201d Karlin said. \u201cWe have over five million supporters across the country, and I believe we\u2019re doing our job. People are getting tired of government, particularly the federal government, being in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked if someone wanted to get involved with the COS organization or to find out if their state had signed on, Karlin suggests people go to <a href=\"https:\/\/conventionofstates.com\/\">conventionofstates.com<\/a> and sign the petition. \u201cThere\u2019s a button there that says, <a href=\"https:\/\/conventionofstates.com\/take_action\">Take Action<\/a>,\u201d Karlin noted. \u201cJoin one of our teams. We\u2019re in all 50 states and we\u2019d love to have you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked if she had a personal message she would like to share with her fellow Americans, Karlin said, \u201cIf you value our Constitution, if you value your freedom, if you value your liberty or want your children and your grandchildren to live in a free society according to our founding. If you\u2019re not happy with the way things are going. If you\u2019ve participated in elections and you\u2019ve done your civic duty and you\u2019re still seeing this encroachment and you\u2019re interested in doing something, not just looking at Facebook pages, you\u2019ll want to join Convention of States because COS is one of the last things we can do, nonviolently, to reign in our federal government on those three areas. It\u2019s about our future. It\u2019s about our existence. It\u2019s about getting back to our founding as our founders intended.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4268550\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/10\/Peter-Barber-1200x1600.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4268550\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Peter-Barber-600x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"Peter Barber, a volunteer activist for the COS movement in Florida, District 85, at the Rally in Tally on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4268550\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Peter-Barber-600x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"Peter Barber, a volunteer activist for the COS movement in Florida, District 85, at the Rally in Tally on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Peter Barber, a volunteer activist for the COS movement in Florida, District 85, at the Rally in Tally on Feb. 8, 2022. (Patricia Tolson\/The Epoch Times)<\/figure>\n<p>To Peter Barber, a retired salesman, it\u2019s important for our younger generation to educate themselves about the Constitution and the structure of the Republic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you talk to a young person, they think the federal government does everything,\u201d Barber told The Epoch Times. \u201cWe were set up by our Founders to be <em>states<\/em> driven. Now the federal government wants to be in control. They\u2019ve gone so far as to say they want to nationalize elections. The Founding Fathers said we are run by <em>states<\/em>. That\u2019s why we have such division now and now people are voting with their feet. That\u2019s why Florida is filling up and California is emptying. What the Founding Fathers said would happen is happening. The states are becoming either a free state like Florida or they\u2019re becoming controlled like New York and California.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jim-kallinger-76755b46\/\">Jim Kallinger<\/a>, a former Florida State legislator currently the president of the National Association of Former State Legislators, says the Founding Fathers never meant for our nation to have a \u201cone size fits all approach to governance.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4268553\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/10\/FormerRep2-1200x900.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4268553\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/FormerRep2-600x450-1.jpg\" alt=\"Former Florida Rep. Jim Kallinger speaking at the Rally in Tally on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4268553\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/FormerRep2-600x450-1.jpg\" alt=\"Former Florida Rep. Jim Kallinger speaking at the Rally in Tally on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Former Florida Representative and President of the National Association of Former State Legislators Jim Kallinger speaking at the Rally in Tally on Feb. 8, 2022. (Brenna Rummel)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIf you go to our website, you\u2019ll see there are certain areas we are focused on,\u201d Kallinger told The Epoch Times. \u201cOne of them is Article Five\u201d and \u201cengaging our currently elected legislators on issues of balanced federalism, state sovereignty, and representative governance. It fits into our purpose of engaging state legislators to make sure they are vigilant in guarding against the national authorities that, by nature, get bigger and more centralized.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur hope is these men and women stand up to this and put that genie back into the bottle and restore state sovereignty and balance federalism as seen by our founders.\u201d Kallinger asserted. \u201cWe\u2019ve really gotten off track and the way we\u2019re going to do it is through our state legislators. The founders never intended us to be a one size fits all approach to governance. They looked at the states as being little laboratories of democracy, debating and competing with each other on issues, policies, and ideas. Someone from Washington telling people in California what to do and telling people in Florida what to do doesn\u2019t work because we\u2019re two different states and the people are very different.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4269659\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/10\/WomanWithCOSFlag-1200x1600.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4269659\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WomanWithCOSFlag-600x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"A Convention of States supporter holds the COS Action flag at the Rally in Tally on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4269659\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WomanWithCOSFlag-600x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"A Convention of States supporter holds the COS Action flag at the Rally in Tally on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> A Convention of States supporter holds the COS Action flag at the Rally in Tally on Feb. 8, 2022. (Brenna Rummel)<\/figure>\n<p>According to Kallinger, \u201cthe Founders gave us state sovereignty and the authority to govern on issues that are individual to the state and are not coming from a national authority, and we\u2019ve gotten away from that. Now we have a national government that\u2019s trying to dictate to us. Now they\u2019re even trying to nationalize elections when it <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/browse\/article-1\/section-4\/\">specifically states in the U.S. Constitution<\/a> that the time and place and manner of elections shall be determined by state legislators. They were very specific on that and even that is being ignored up in Washington and they\u2019re just pushing stuff on the states and the states are letting it happen and that\u2019s a problem. That benevolent dictator might be pushing something you like. But that dictator could change one day and start pushing things you don\u2019t like. A post office, coining and regulating the value of money, maintaining an armed force; there are very limited functions of the national government and we\u2019re letting them get beyond that and we\u2019re seeing the consequences of that. That\u2019s why I think we\u2019re seeing a lot of acrimony and partisanship in the country right now. I think it\u2019s because we have a dictator, and it doesn\u2019t matter what party it is. But someone from Washington telling us what to do and people don\u2019t like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4268558\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/10\/WomanatRally-1200x1600.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4268558\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WomanatRally-600x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"Convention of States member Lynette at the Rally in Tally on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4268558\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WomanatRally-600x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"Convention of States member Lynette at the Rally in Tally on February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Convention of States member Lynette at the Rally in Tally on Feb. 8, 2022. (Brenna Rummel)<\/figure>\n<p>For Lynnette Miesen, the COS movement \u201chas meant a lot for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only are we continuing to inform our new legislators, we have continued to get more petition signers,\u201d Miesen told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>According to Miesen, 23 percent of Florida\u2019s voters have already signed the Convention of States petition and 22 percent of Americans nationally have signed on, with 17 states becoming passed states. Another 22 states are in a process where the measure has passed out of committees, and in some cases, through their respective State Houses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just got Nebraska!\u201d Miesen exclaimed. \u201cThat was exciting! It\u2019s starting to happen because people really realize right now that the federal government is doing with mandates what they could never pass laws for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to COS District Captain Dave Gantt, the rally in Florida is about reminding people that the current state of chaos in our country is not \u201cthe way it\u2019s supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4268560\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/10\/ManAtRally-1200x1600.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4268560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ManAtRally-600x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"Dave Ganett at the Rally in Tally of February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4268560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ManAtRally-600x800-1.jpg\" alt=\"Dave Ganett at the Rally in Tally of February 8, 2022.\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> COS District Captain Dave Gantt at the Rally in Tally of Feb. 8, 2022. (Patricia Tolson\/The Epoch Times)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThey call it The Rally in Tally,\u201d Gantt told The Epoch Times, \u201cand people from all over the state come here to talk to the legislators. We are a passed state. We passed in April of 2014. The federal government is showing how much power they have over us and that isn\u2019t the way it\u2019s supposed to be. <em>We\u2019re<\/em> supposed to have power over <em>them<\/em>. Where in the Constitution does it say they can mandate you to stay in your house? It sounds like China. People are really upset. I\u2019m getting a lot more calls from people locally who are upset. Now they\u2019re getting involved. The thing is we need to do something. It used to be that people controlled the state governments and state governments were the major power behind controlling the federal government. What we\u2019re trying to do is regenerate the power back to the states, and that means the people. In my opinion, the federal government is completely out of control. They\u2019re bringing about powers they weren\u2019t given in the Constitution and they\u2019re justifying them, and the Supreme Court is ruling with them. Our system is broken. We\u2019re trying to get our federal government under control and give the power back to the states and to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-patricia-tolson\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WEB_PatriciaTolson.jpg\" alt=\"Patricia Tolson\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bio\">Patricia Tolson, an award-winning political columnist and investigative reporter with 20 years of experience, has worked for such news outlets as Yahoo!, U.S. News, and The Tampa Free Press. With The Epoch Times, Patricia\u2019s in-depth investigative coverage of elections, education, school boards, parents\u2019 rights, and COVID-19 mandates has achieved international exposure. Send her your story ideas: <a class=\"linkified\" href=\"mailto:patricia.tolson@epochtimes.us\">patricia.tolson@epochtimes.us<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;It&#8217;s about our future. It&#8217;s about our existence. It&#8217;s about getting back to our founding as our founders intended.&#8217; TALLAHASSEE, Florida\u2014Despite chilly winds and overcast skies, around 50 Convention of &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1288775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1288775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1288775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1288775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1288775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}