Rob Explains Why We Need a Convention of States

All Postings, amendment applications, amendments convention, Article 5, Article V, balanced budget, balanced budget amendment, CONSTITUTION, constitutional amendment, constitutional convention, constitutional law, convention for proposing amendments, convention of states, Natelson Rob, original intent, original meaning, original understanding, originalism, Rob Natelson |

Rob Explains Why We Need a Convention of States Read More »

Soros-Funded Groups Attack the Article V Movement

All Postings, Article 5, Article V, balanced budget, balanced budget amendment, CONSTITUTION, convention for proposing amendments, convention of states, Natelson Rob, Rob Natelson |

Article V activists have had to deal with the defamatory, and potentially actionable, charge that they are supported by socialist billionaire George Soros.
As far as I can determine, however, no one in the movement has been able to identify any pro-Article V Soros money at all.
On the contrary, Soros-funded groups have repeatedly assailed Article V […]

Soros-Funded Groups Attack the Article V Movement Read More »

Answering Questions About the Voting Rules at a Convention for Proposing Amendments

All Postings, amendment applications, amendments convention, Article 5, Article V, balanced budget, balanced budget amendment, CONSTITUTION, constitutional amendment, constitutional law, convention for proposing amendments, convention of states, Natelson Rob, original intent, original meaning, original understanding, originalism, Rob Natelson, supreme court, The Founding |

Note: This column appeared originally at the American Thinker.
In a recent post, I examined suggestions that a convention of the states for proposing amendments adopt a supermajority rule for proposing any amendment. Most commonly suggested is that the convention replace the traditional “majority of states decides” standard with a two thirds requirement.
I explained that this […]

Answering Questions About the Voting Rules at a Convention for Proposing Amendments Read More »

Trying to Alter the Traditional Amendments Convention Voting Rule Is a Mistake

All Postings, amendment applications, amendments convention, Article 5, Article V, balanced budget, balanced budget amendment, CONSTITUTION, constitutional amendment, constitutional convention, constitutional law, convention for proposing amendments, convention of states, Natelson Rob, Rob Natelson, The Founding |

Note: This article first appeared in The American Thinker.
Advocates of a federal balanced budget amendment are closing in on the 34 states necessary to require Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments. Other groups, such as the Convention of States project, are working assiduously toward the same goal. If they succeed, it will a […]

Trying to Alter the Traditional Amendments Convention Voting Rule Is a Mistake Read More »

Term Limits for the Supreme Court?

All Postings, amendment applications, amendments convention, Article 5, Article V, CONSTITUTION, constitutional amendment, constitutional convention, constitutional law, convention for proposing amendments, convention of states, Natelson Rob, original intent, original meaning, original understanding, originalism, ratification of constitution, Rob Natelson, supreme court, The Founding |

This article first appeared in the American Thinker.
Term limits are among the reforms being proposed by advocates of curbing federal government abuses through the Constitution’s Article V amendment process.
The idea of congressional term limits has been around for some time. But more recent discussion centers on term limits for the judiciary, especially for the Supreme […]

Term Limits for the Supreme Court? Read More »

“Runaway Convention” Nonsense—One More Time

All Postings, amendment applications, amendments convention, Article 5, Article V, CONSTITUTION, constitutional amendment, constitutional convention, constitutional law, convention for proposing amendments, convention of states, Natelson Rob, Rob Natelson, The Founding |

Seldom has a claim so weak been so often advanced than the claim that a convention for proposing amendments would be a “constitutional convention” that could “run away”—that is, disregard its limits and propose amendments outside its sphere of authority.
I have little patience with the theory, partly because it is so patently based on ignorance […]

“Runaway Convention” Nonsense—One More Time Read More »

A Convention of States in “Gone With the Wind”

All Postings, amendment applications, amendments convention, Article 5, Article V, balanced budget, balanced budget amendment, CONSTITUTION, constitutional amendment, constitutional convention, constitutional law, convention for proposing amendments, convention of states, Natelson Rob, Rob Natelson |

Margaret Mitchell, the author of the hugely popular novel Gone With the Wind, was a newspaper reporter and the child of a family steeped in history. Her father, a prominent Georgia attorney, was one of the leading lights in the state historical society.
That her book has a plethora of references to historical events occurring during […]

A Convention of States in “Gone With the Wind” Read More »