The Convention of States (COS) organization is wrapping up its “simulated convention,” a mock Article V Constitutional Convention comprised of current state legislators from all over the country. COS and those attending claim that “it's being conducted just as how things would happen if we were to get to get to an Article V convention.” However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
For example, the state of Illinois is being represented at this mock convention only by three Republican state representatives— all of whom were invited (i.e., handpicked) by COS to attend. In real life, Illinois is one of the most leftist states, with left-wing Democrats wielding a supermajority in the Illinois General Assembly. Furthermore, leftist Democrats also control every executive-branch position in the Illinois. Would Illinois really select conservative Republicans to represent it at a convention?
In fact, Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) warned likewise on Twitter:
Show me a single state where Constitutionalists comprise a majority of the state legislature.
At this point in history, an Article V Convention of the States would be a disaster.
Should ever Congress call a real Article V Convention, conservatives and constitutionalists will NOT have a majority — they will be outnumbered, overpowered, and outvoted by leftists and so-called “moderate” establishment Republicans.
By handpicking the delegates — all of whom are pro-COS Republican state lawmakers — COS is carefully tailoring the event to result in a predetermined outcome. COS will cite the orderliness of the tailored simulated convention as “proof” that an Article V Convention would not be a “runaway convention.” However, it is important to note that this simulated convention is just that, a simulation. It was not called, authorized, or sanctioned by Congress or by the legislatures of any state. The simulated convention is not a real gathering or convention of states, nor is it a real Article V constitutional convention, which posses the inherent power to propose reals amendments or frame a brand new constitution, should the delegates (representing the sovereign will of the people, not the state legislatures) see fit to do so. Simply put, COS's simulated convention has no real power to propose any actual amendments or other changes to the U.S. Constitution. As such, there is no temptation for the mock convention to runaway from their commissions or the instructions provided to them by their COS hosts.
In real life, a never-before-tried Article V Constitutional Convention will be turbulent, and it will be impossible to control its outcome. In fact, conservative U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, correctly warned about such a convention from the floor of the U.S. Senate, shortly after the legislature of him home state of Arizona made an application to Congress to call an Article V convention to propose a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. Sen. Goldwater said:
If we hold a constitutional convention, every group in the country — majority, minority, middle-of-the-road, left, right, up, down — is going to get its two bits in and we are going to wind up with a constitution that will be so far different from the one we have lived under for 200 years that I doubt that the Republic could continue.
Senator Goldwater's warning remains true. A convention could very likely lead to a new constitution with significant, radical changes that push the United States in a socialistic direction.
Although a real convention risks dangerous changes to the Constitution, the COS simulated convention will bring about worthless changes. The U.S. Constitution already enshrines a federal government with very limited powers — rather than trying to change it, we must focus on enforcing the existing document. Similar to COS’s 2016 mock convention, this simulated convention will lead to amendments that fail to truly limit the federal government compared to the current text of the Constitution.
COS says it wants to make an actual convention a “reality by 2026.” However, the first COS resolution was passed in 2014, and the current count is 19 states out of the required 34 to trigger a convention. At the current pace, it’s impossible to meet this goal, and few states are left that would even consider passing COS’s preferred language. In fact, the Illinois representative sponsoring the COS resolution admitted that his state won’t actually pass it!
Rather than trying to change the Constitution, states must enforce it by nullifying all unconstitutional federal laws, regulations, and court rulings. Furthermore, all state legislators must oppose pending Con-Con resolutions and rescind existing applications.
