The Texas Plan

Governor Greg Abbott Calls for an Article V Convention of States to restore our Constitution

 

Congress is unconstitutionally regulating every aspect of our lives. The President is unconstitutionally using executive orders and administrative regulations to circumvent democracy. The Supreme Court is compromised by individuals who substitute personal policy preferences for the Constitution and laws of the United States.

Our Founders were clear about how our government was to be structured. They foresaw the threat of an over-expansive federal government and the need for States to check the federal government from stepping beyond its Constitutional powers.

The Constitution itself is not broken. What is broken is our Nation’s willingness to obey the Constitution and to hold our leaders accountable to it.

The solution is to restore the rule of law by ensuring that our government abides by the Constitution’s limits.

This constitutional problem calls for a constitutional solution.

• The Founders knew there would come a time when the federal government would overstep its authority, and they gave us a tool to deal with it.
• Article V of the Constitution gives either Congress or the States the authority to propose amendments to the Constitution itself.
• Washington is unable or unwilling to remedy the crisis it has created. States must lead the way as the last defense of liberty and limited government.
• Without the consent of any politicians in Washington, D.C. We the People can rein in the federal government and restored the balance of power between the States and the United States.

The Texas Plan

• Not so much a vision to alter the Constitution as it is a call to restore the rule of our current one.
• Not a full-scale “Constitutional Convention,” which would scrap the entire Constitution and start over.
• A limited Convention of States to consider only specific amendments to rein in the federal government.

Fight Misinformation

• Some are vested in the status quo and refuse to support an Article V Convention of States. Others, in an effort to scuttle any attempt to rein in Washington, will falsely raise concern about a “runaway convention.”
• Runaway convention arguments are red herrings simply because of the high hurdle that must be cleared before any proposal by states can amend the Constitution.
• It takes 34 states (two-thirds) to agree to a convention.
• Any proposed amendment requires agreement by 38 states (three-fourths) before it can be ratified.
• Anything and everything can be blocked by only 13 states.

We the People Can Do This!

• Several states have already officially joined the call for an Article V Convention of States.
• At one time, the balanced budget amendment proposal was only two states short of the 34 needed to call a convention on the issue.
• A state-led effort to limit income tax rates was, at one time, only two states short of going into effect.
• Convention of States Project, a national movement, has operations in all 50 states and is working to pass support for an Article V Convention of States in at least 38 states.