The Mississippi legislature is looking to amend the U.S. Constitution. The resolution has been introduced in the Senate that would limit the power of the federal government. The convention would be made possible under Article V of the U.S. Constitution and 34 states will have to pass resolutions to do so.
Convention of States President Mark Meckler said the main issue is about who gets to decide what happens in America. The federal government, or the people.
“We are going to get the whole country together in a convention and we are going to talk to them about the federal government interfering in our lives,” said Meckler. “There is a fundamental question facing American’s today which is ‘who decides?’ Do we get to decide for ourselves in our families, in our communities, in our churches, or does the federal government tell us what to do? We think the founders were clear. We the people should decide. Today D.C. Decides way too much. So, this is a fight about who decides. When we get a convention, we will decide how much can D.C. do and what can they not do. that’s what this is really all about.”
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Allen West is also in Mississippi to promote the Convention of the States resolution which 13 other states have passed.
“I think that it is an important thing for you to understand the system of federalism where the states are supposed to be sovereign and preeminent,” said Lt. Col. West. “When you look at the ninth and 10th amendments,
all of those enumerated powers that don’t go to the federal government go to the states and to the people. That balance has been skewed now. We have got to get that balance to the right place.”
West added that while each state is required to balance their budgets, the federal government is not required to do so which creates issues with federal mandates.
“The problem is that the federal government comes up with all of these great ideas and they push down these financial constraints, unfunded mandates and liabilities on states and then they have to figure out how do we function within the resources that we have, so we have got to get that balance back,” Lt. Col. West said.
The Mississippi House passed a resolution to allow for the Convention of the States last year and Meckler says they are focusing on the Senate Resolution this year to hopefully make Mississippi the 14th state to agree to amend the U.S. Constitution.
