{"id":1496252,"date":"2022-05-29T08:44:41","date_gmt":"2022-05-29T12:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1496252"},"modified":"2022-05-29T08:44:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-29T12:44:44","slug":"north-carolina-could-be-next-to-join-convention-of-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/north-carolina-could-be-next-to-join-convention-of-states\/","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina Could Be Next to Join Convention of States"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/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%2Fnorth-carolina-could-be-next-to-join-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=1496252&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><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-north-carolina\">North Carolina<\/a> could be joining the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/conventionofstates.com\/\">Convention of States<\/a> that seeks to restore the balance between the state and federal government using Article V of the United States Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>In March 2021, the North Carolina House passed <a href=\"https:\/\/acrobat.adobe.com\/link\/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:51b5bc92-9962-4d7e-8fa1-2166cd0cd8c8\">House Joint Resolution 233<\/a>, which calls for the state to be added to the convention, now leaving it up to the Senate to follow the House\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n<p>A Convention of States <a href=\"https:\/\/conventionofstates.com\/cos-nc-2022-freedom-rally\">freedom rally<\/a> will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, on June 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., where there will be multiple speakers, including Convention of States Action (COSA) Co-Founder and President Mark Meckler.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has never been done before in American history,\u201d Meckler told The Epoch Times. \u201cThe ability to do it is contained within the second clause of Article V of the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Article V gives states the power to call a Convention of States to propose amendments. It takes 34 states to call the convention and 38 to ratify any amendments that are proposed, Meckler said.<\/p>\n<p>Meckler, an attorney who specialized in technology law, has led several efforts to limit the federal government\u2019s power.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to serving as interim CEO of the social media platform Parler in 2021, Meckler co-founded the Tea Party Patriots in 2009, one of the largest Tea Party organizations in the country, before leaving in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>He later founded Citizens for Self-Governance and launched a successful class-action lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, which at the time was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/groups-testify-to-irs-abuses_91210.html\">illegally targeting<\/a> Tea Party groups.<\/p>\n<p>In 2013, he co-founded COSA with attorney Michael Farris, founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association, to pursue the Article V strategy, which allows for the states to come together to propose constitutional amendments that limit the federal powers and spending, as well as impose term limits on federal officials.<\/p>\n<h2>Reining in the Federal Government<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThe Article tells us two ways to amend our Constitution,\u201d Meckler said. \u201cOne is two-thirds of both Houses in Congress can propose any amendment they want, and then that goes out to the states for ratification. It takes three-quarters, or 38 states, to ratify it. All 27 amendments have come that way by recommendation from Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Found in the second clause, however, is an alternative to the former way that the Founders provided to override the federal government if there ever got to be a point in American history in which the central powers had become too tyrannical and stopped listening to the American people, Meckler said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey needed a way to allow for the states themselves to rein in the federal government,\u201d Meckler said.<\/p>\n<h2>The Resolution<\/h2>\n<p>For a state to join, the legislature must propose a resolution that doesn\u2019t require a governor\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter it\u2019s passed by a simple majority in both chambers, then it becomes a call or a resolution to join the convention,\u201d Meckler said. \u201cSo far, 19 out of the required 34 states have called to join just in the last 90 days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wisconsin, Nebraska, Virginia, and South Carolina are among the states that have passed resolutions.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4271707\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/11\/GroupPhoto-1200x900.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4271707 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/11\/GroupPhoto-1200x900-600x450.jpg\" alt=\"Convention of States team members gather on the steps of the Capitol Building in Tallahassee, Florida on February 8, 2022, for the annual Rally in Tally.\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Convention of States team members gather on the steps of the Capitol Building for the annual rally in Tallahassee, Fla., on Feb. 8, 2022. (Supplied\/Brenna Rummel)<\/figure>\n<p>These states are calling for a convention to discuss three issues, Meckler said; the first being term limits on federal officials and Congress.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is intended to address the problem with the deep state officials; not only Congress, but staffers, bureaucrats, and judiciary officials who have long-term seats in service to Washington, D.C., but don\u2019t serve the American people,\u201d Meckler said.<\/p>\n<p>The second issue the convention would address is imposing fiscal restraints on Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpecifically, this would be for a balanced budget amendment that would involve taxation caps, spending caps, and the imposition of generally accepted accounting principles,\u201d Meckler said. \u201cThere\u2019s literally no system of accounting principles that they use in our government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meckler calls the current one in place \u201cunicorns and rainbow\u201d accounting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey just write down whatever they want,\u201d he said. \u201cWe really never have any idea what they actually spend, and they use off-book and black-book budgeting that would put those who ran a publicly-traded company in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The third, and what Meckler called the most important issue, is to discuss imposing scope or jurisdictional restraints on the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe main problem we have in this country right now is the jurisdictional fight,\u201d he said. \u201cThe question is, who decides?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018We the People\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>There is \u2018We the People\u2019 and there is the federal government. Who should decide how the country is run?<\/p>\n<p>The Founders had a very clear answer to that, Meckler said. \u201cThe people decide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, he said, the current situation is that the federal government today can do \u201calmost anything it wants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not what the Founders intended,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, the federal government is involved in local education, law enforcement, health care, and environmental issues\u2014all intrusions that have been normalized today but not what was planned, Meckler said.<\/p>\n<p>Providing historical context, Meckler pointed to a time after the U.S. Constitution was ratified when Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, a proponent of public education, was establishing the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>A friend had suggested to Jefferson that he take federal funding for the university, and Jefferson responded by stating that it would be unconstitutional without a constitutional amendment, Meckler said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven Jefferson understood that the federal government had no role to play in education,\u201d he said. \u201cYet today, we have the Department of Education wasting hundreds of billions of dollars, and I would argue damaging our children. It\u2019s not constitutional, and the only way to fix this is by holding a convention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once 34 states call for the convention, each state legislature would commission its own delegates, Meckler said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStates can select as many as they want, from one to 100,\u201d he said. \u201cEach state gets one vote.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The only role of Congress is to choose when and where for the convention to meet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe convention will operate very much like a legislature, enacting a rule set before beginning the debate and breaking off into subcommittees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>When 26 states\u2014a majority\u2014agree on any amendment, the convention then has the power to propose the amendment to the states, Meckler said.<\/p>\n<p>Ratification of those proposed amendments would take place in the states, not in Congress.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would take 38 states in their state legislatures voting to ratify before an amendment could become a part of the Constitution,\u201d Meckler said.<\/p>\n<p>Meckler said it\u2019s important to point out that the convention can only make proposals to the states because critics of this strategy warn of a \u201crunaway convention,\u201d the idea of the convention going rogue.<\/p>\n<p>One example that critics of the strategy raise is the possibility of the delegates voting against their states\u2019 wishes. However, those commission delegates, also called commissioners, are bound to their state legislature.<\/p>\n<p>If they were to vote in opposition to their state\u2019s will, they would be replaced and could face up to three years in prison, according to COSA.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4269659\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/10\/WomanWithCOSFlag.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy wp-image-4269659 size-medium\" 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=\"wp-image-4269659 size-medium\" 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. (Supplied\/Brenna Rummel)<\/figure>\n<p>The idea of restoring the constitutional balance bothers some on both the fringes of the right and the left, Meckler said. However, he said the proposal of a balanced budget amendment is supported by 85 percent of the American people, while 72 percent, he said, are in support of removing power from the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>Constitutional law scholar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/how-a-convention-of-states-really-works_3710824.html\">Robert Natelson<\/a>, who\u2019s endorsed the effort, said, \u201cThere are far more political and legal constraints on a runaway convention than on a runaway Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Abraham Lincoln discussed Article V and how it gives states power over the federal government, saying that \u201cthe convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople have been trying to do this since our country began,\u201d Meckler said. \u201cOur effort began nine years ago in August 2013. Since, we\u2019ve been working consistently building this project, with 5.2 million supporters across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018The Only Way to Save This Country\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>There are volunteer teams in every state, Joy Ruhmann, the North Carolina state director for the Convention of States, told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>Ruhmann put her career as a leadership consultant on hold to commit her time to the convention.<\/p>\n<p>She orchestrated the June 8 rally, which will have speakers in addition to Meckler such as Lt. Col. Allen West, a former Florida congressman; former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas Rick Green, a constitutional coach and founder of Patriot Academy; and Jonathan Uzcategui, a Venezuela-born North Carolinian who speaks out against the dangers of socialism.<\/p>\n<div class=\"morearticles\"><strong>Read More<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"post_list\">\n<div class=\"article\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/collectivism-individualism-and-left-right-politics_2713858.html\">Collectivism, Individualism, and Left\u2013Right Politics<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI think that what we are trying to do with the Convention of States is the only way to save this country in the long term,\u201d Ruhmann said. \u201cIf we can\u2019t get corruption out of Washington and if we can\u2019t give the power back to the states where it\u2019s supposed to be\u2014based on our Constitution\u2014then all hope is lost for the Republic.\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-matt-mcgregor\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Matt.jpeg\" alt=\"Matt McGregor\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Matt McGregor covers news from North and South Carolina for The Epoch Times. Send him your story ideas:<br \/>\nmatt.mcgregor@epochtimes.us\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Carolina could be joining the\u00a0Convention of States that seeks to restore the balance between the state and federal government using Article V of the United States Constitution.In March 2021,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1496252","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\/1496252","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\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1496252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496252\/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=1496252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1496252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1496252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}