Washington's paralysis requires a constitutional fix

Here’s where the states come in. Article V of the Constitution allows two-thirds of the states to call for a convention of states for the sole purpose of proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It would take 38 states to ratify any resulting amendments.

Advertisement

We’re already one-third of the way there. I have visited over 40 states in the last three years, building support for this convention of states. Thirteen have officially endorsed it: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. Another 10 states have passed legislation in one chamber, and 17 more have active legislation in 2019. A full listing is available at conventionofstates.com.

Howard proposes a constitutional amendment to give governors the power, every 15 years, to appoint a “recodification commission” to examine and make proposals to fix federal regulatory programs. Creating simplified codes always requires drafting by a small group of experts, as the Constitution was drafted. As Howard explains: “Expert committees designed the Justinian Code in the sixth century, the Napoleonic Code in the nineteenth century, the German Code at the turn of the twentieth century, and the Uniform Commercial Code in the 1950s. These were all transformative legal reforms. Congress uses the model of independent commissions to make the politically difficult choices of which defense bases to close down.”

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement