Texas Governor Greg Abbott made good on his promise to challenge President Obama’s gun control initiatives Friday, calling for a Constitutional Convention of US states to create several new amendments aimed at reasserting states’ rights.
Among nine proposed amendments, “The Texas Plan” aims to prohibit Congress from regulating activity that occurs wholly within one state. Another amendment requires Congress to balance its budget, and another allows a two-thirds majority of states to override a US Supreme Court decision.
“Congress is unable to control itself. So the people must impose control,” Governor Abbott said during a speech before the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Abbott explained that federal lawmakers were out of step with the “Constitutional principles” our Founders put in place, and urged other states to join Texas in helping to “fix the cracks in our Constitution.”
“The increasingly frequent departures from Constitutional principles are destroying the Rule of Law foundation on which this country was built,” Abbott said, specifically citing President Obama’s recent executive authorizations infringing on the Second Amendment.
“We are succumbing to the caprice of man that our Founders fought to escape. The cure to these problems will not come from Washington D.C. Instead, the states must lead the way. To do that I am adding another item to the agenda next session. I want legislation authorizing Texas to join other states in calling for a Convention of States to fix the cracks in our Constitution.”
Abbott’s declaration and 92-page proposal follows an appearance by the president in a televised town hall-style meeting hosted by CNN, in which the Commander-in-Chief attempted to convince Americans that executive orders infringing on the Second Amendment were a good idea.
Responding to the announcement, Abbott – a strong advocate for gun rights – promised, “Texas will take every action to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”
“The Bill of Rights was added as a specific safeguard to prevent the federal government from denying Americans those guaranteed rights,” Abbott said in a press release Tuesday. “Today, the President trampled the purpose and substance of the Bill of Rights by unilaterally imposing Second Amendment restrictions.”
The outspoken Republican governor made his intent to disobey executive orders imposed by the president clear over the weekend in a pointed tweet, challenging Obama to “Come and take it.”
Sounds like grandstanding to me. As much as Obama has trampled over the Constitutional protections of checks and balances, it seems that Federal laws trump (no pun intended) state laws. It would be more effective in curbing some of Obama's more leftist notions if the Republicans would grow a pair and follow through with initiating impeachment proceedings for encouraging the obstruction of justice, the failure of the Justice Department to pursue the criminal acts, especially in our upper levels of government..
ReplyDeleteWasn't it interesting last week to see Obama start shedding tears over some of the violence in our streets at his press conference. And yet when it came to the press conference he had when James Foley was beheaded, and he expressed his condolences, Twenty minutes later, he's yukking it up with his buddies on the golf course. What a phoney fuck.
As expected, Texas is going to lead the way.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you repeal the 17th
ReplyDeleteGoogle League of the South. Johnny Reb want's to do it again and this time Johnny and Colonel Reb(Ole Miss) got a whole bunch of Yankees on their side. Keep in mind Texans honor their flag first.
ReplyDeleteAsk our elected neighborhood Democrats how they feel about trashing the Constitution. Then go out and vote for them again like the good Lemmings you are.
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ReplyDeleteGovernor Abbott offered the following constitutional amendments:
ReplyDeleteProhibit Congress from regulating activity that occurs wholly within one State.
Require Congress to balance its budget.
Prohibit administrative agencies—and the unelected bureaucrats that staff them—from creating federal law.
Prohibit administrative agencies—and the unelected bureaucrats that staff them—from preempting state law.
Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Require a seven-justice super-majority vote for U.S. Supreme Court decisions that invalidate a democratically enacted law.
Restore the balance of power between the federal and state governments by limiting the former to the powers expressly delegated to it in the Constitution.
Give state officials the power to sue in federal court when federal officials overstep their bounds.
Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a federal law or regulation.
Federal powers only trump state powers if those Federal powers are specifically provided for in the US Constitution. All other rights not specifically provided to the Federal Government are reserved to the states. The US Judiciary, Congress and the White House seem to have forgotten this fact, thus the need for a bitch slapping via a constitutional convention.
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