Topic: Government Accountability
We the People are No Longer Asking... For over 220 years, the remedy to government corruption has been right under our noses the whole time.by Spencer Jayden
(libertarian)
Monday, September 29, 2008
"Every generation needs a new revolution." - Thomas Jefferson
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - John F. Kennedy
This. Is. Shocking. Only 7% of the American public supported the October Wall Street Bailout, and there are those that wonder why Congress has to use so many underhanded tactics to ram these bills through. How is this one different? More corporate welfare. More bureaucracy. More of the same. Why do we object now?
The Congress of "Change" has failed us. Now it's languishing in approval by the single-digits; there must certainly be a good case for SOME kind of action. But, the more I look around, the more I'm shaking my head.I can't even begin to share with you the overwhelming amounts of grassroots efforts with such rudimentary solutions to the problem.
"Oh, let's all go out and fire Congress."
"Every incumbent must go!"
I hardly need explain why this logic suffers.
Our founders arguably rebelled for far lesser matters than the one's we are facing today.
Yet short of a bloody uprising, what can we, the measly, taxpaying citizenry of this country, ever hope to accomplish? But the first response has always lay in our Constitution. You mean that ancient, immortalized scrap of parchment that somehow was meant to dictate the infinite wisdom collected by our founding fathers and was effectively buried by the Patriot Act? That old thing?
Right. I've got something to tell you about it.
It was during a Pennsylvanian summer of 1787, in characteristically hot, arid weather that for four months, 55 delegates from the first 13 colonies had gathered in Philadelphia to discuss much-needed revisions to the now obsolete document known as the Articles of Confederation. The Articles were found unworkable under the pretext that the federal government was inable to effectively carry out its tasks in compliance with the individual states. As they delved into the subject, it became clear to them that there was no simple solution.
Wary of giving any one branch of power monopoly over the fate of the nation, they foresaw a need in which central power might inevitably be unresponsive to needs of the States and the People. And it was through this amazing foresight that in Article V, to this day, the States are able to summon a constitutional convention. My friends, the problem does NOT lie in Wall Street, but on CAPITAL Street. Fortunately, the constitutional remedy has already been spelled out for us. If you sincerely wish to stop the bleeding, kill the infection, AND heal the damage all at once, this is your best shot.
Now I suppose I've already lost half of you on a cliche build-up with frightening allusions to your high school government class, but the preacher's finished talking. On the other hand, there are those who will immediately rationalize away such an approach as much too drastic or guaranteed to fail. And the questions begin to pour, almost with a resentful tone.
But what would we even do?
How can ordinary pepole do a better job?
Doesn't a convention mean everything's on the table?
How can we be sure we don't make the current situation worse?
And the greatest of all: why hasn't there been one convention since 1787?
I know it seems I've thrown mixed messages at you. I called "Fire Congress" the worst idea ever. Traditional activism, rallying, and protests makes no difference in this country anymore. The right to assembly is guaranteed, but what has it demonstrated more often than not? That a few trade unions or industry groups can take over DC? When 80% of Americans believe that the country is not heading in the right direction, both the President and Congress suffer from the lowest approval ratings in history, and yet the upcoming presidential race remains a dead heat, it gives me confidence that this can work. That we as a country are willing to try desperate things. Whether or not something has been done before should not be the deciding factor in whether we try to affect real change or not. This is America. As long as we're socializing risk here, I think one thing we can use is a constitutional convention.
Scholars and critics, step up. Here's your chance to warn us about all the destructive potential we have to make things worse. We've heard this doom and gloom before, and we are aware of the sour taste in your mouth for your fellow Americans. We're not fooled.
Some of you may recall during the early 80's, there was a great movement to balance the federal budget through constitutional means, and the movement almost succeeded short of two states. There has been two other close instances earlier on in the century. What happened? Congress got its act together of course. Only with the gun to their heads did they go along with the will of the American people. Of course, this is the nature of things, and we can only imagine the state we would be in had Congress not co-opted the issue to prevent a Constitutional Convention. That is what will naturally happen unless we insist upon it! It is a historical fact. Why? They fear us!
This isn't time to compromise. Don't fall for the partisan way of burying issues alive. You are all Americans first. Not Democrats. Not Republicans. Not black, white, Asian, Hispanic, lawyers, doctors, teachers, soldiers, or whatever! The only approvable special interest our politicians should be working for is the American people. They haven't seen lobbying yet. The answer isn't in hamstringing each other. It's pushing a rollback button.
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Spencer Jayden only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Spencer Jayden is
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employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Jake, the champion of the constitution
Date: 2008-09-29 01:59:11
Dear Spencer Jayden -
With you dude. Hey, do you know of any system like www.downsizedc.org that is setup to contact state reps? It would be a good link to put in your article. Most of my letters are to federal congress, but you bring up a good point, sent them a note to execute Article V on the bailouts and the wars.
Alas, Jake, I looked for one before I sent my own letters out. You can find your state representatives (Senators and Assemblymen) usually by going to senate.(state).gov or house.(state).gov, or some variant of. If you do find one, let me know.
It is imperative that we get this idea out. We need some kind of site to organize other people, even if it's just a MADlibs letter with a few personalizations.
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