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Guest: Michael Farris | Air Dates: July 18 & 19, 2015

Whether you’re mad at a Congress that stops nothing, or a president who thinks he can do anything or a Supreme Court that forgets everything about the Constitution, the thing that seems to unite all of us is that the federal government is divisive and out of control. If it is the nature of mankind and governments to gather more power, what can the States do about an out of control federal government that seems all too often to forget it is not an empire but a Republic?

Thankfully, our Founding Fathers provided a solution: a Convention of States.

Want to make this happen? Be sure to check out our guest post by Deborah Lee, Oregon State Director. Using Oregon as an example, she discusses how they’re using grassroots methods to make this happen and what you can do to get be a part of this.

Article V Convention of States

Do you remember hearing in high school about the checks and balances in our Constitution? Do you remember when was the last time you saw that actually happen? Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides a way out. Tune in this week to I Spy Radio to learn about the Constitutional power of a Convention of States (sometimes referred to as an “Article V Convention of States). From the Supreme Court doing constitutional gymnastics to keep Obamacare alive to rulings on gay marriage to the abuse of executive power to more than $100 trillion in federal debts and unfunded liabilities, this is a movement that is quickly gaining momentum.

We turn to Michael Farris, a Constitutional lawyer and scholar, who heads the Convention of States Project for Citizens for Self Governance. Tune in to hear: a brief primer on what a Convention of States is; the Constitutionality of a Convention of States and what it can do; the three distinct CoS movements; the difference between a Convention of States and an Assembly of States; and where the current CoS stands (who’s in and who’s not). We also answer the naysayers who claim proponents for a Convention of States are wrong on history and answer the doubters who claim a Convention of States will never happen, can’t or won’t work. Would a Convention of States open the doors to socialists who are salivating over the opportunity? We find out.

Links Mentioned

• Michael Farris’s organization: Citizens for Self-Governance
• The Convention of States website: conventionofstates.com
• Breitbart article: Assembly of States
• The New American (a project of the John Birch Society) has multiple articles against the Convention of States movement: “Convention of the States: Wrong on History, Nullification“, “Scholars Ignore History“, and “Socialists and Soros Fight for Article V Convention“

Further Reading

• Having seen firsthand the abuses by the federal government, former U.S. Rep., Tom Coburn, supports a Convention of States (Washington Times)
• Conventon of States gaining momentum
• Convention of States – the latest from West Virginia