To: Rep. Perry, L.,
Subject: HJR8
Date: 2014-02-26T03:59:07Z
Body:
The Convention of 1787 was called to revise the Articles of Confederation - not to write a new Constitution. We are blessed that out of the 1787 Convention, our founders gave us our current Constitution with its limits on government power. They had just fought a war against the virtually unlimited power of the British crown and were very interested in making sure government power was limited to protect the people. Despite that fact, the Articles of Confederation were still scrapped to strengthen the power of the federal government. That’s right. They threw out the “old and outdated” Articles of Confederation and wrote a brand new Constitution . . . . . . even though the delegates were called and directed to only revise the Articles of Confederation! Can you imagine what they might have written had they not just fought a war against the British crown? Additionally, the delegates even changed the legal method of ratifying those changes. I’ll repeat that because it is vitally important! The legal method of ratification was changed during the convention. The Articles of Confederation required unanimous ratification from every state in order to be changed. When our founders met to revise the Articles of Confederation, they immediately went into a secretive “committee of the whole.” No one knew what they were doing. That’s why at the end of the convention Mrs. Powell had to ask Benjamin Franklin what kind of government they were getting. Franklin famously replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” But here is the point. The Articles of Confederation required the 13 states to unanimously ratify any amendments. But when the convention ended, only 9 of 13 states were required to ratify the new Constitution, which would then take place among ratifying states. They changed the legal method of ratification to lower the standard. Today, there’s no guarantee we could stop ratification of anything bad that comes out of a convention. That’s why it’s critical you vote NO on HJR 8, which calls for an Article V Convention. The Articles of Confederation legally bound the states to require a unanimous vote of the states to change it. They simply ignored it! Can you imagine what that would mean today? Every special interest in the nation will spend billions to make sure any convention will remove limitations on government. Our only precedent clearly shows the delegates can completely ignore instructions they are given and change ratification requirements at will. A convention is extremely dangerous. Especially today! What is the point of having rules only to have the changed through back door dealings. Stick to what we have now it has worked. It has aided in the building of a great nation. M Rowberry 72 South Main Street Monroe, Utah 84754 Sent from the stix of Monroe.