By – Michael Farris

The Convention of States Project proposed an Article V Convention limited by subject matter. The proposed subject matter is to limit the power of the federal government. The question is: Can the left hijack this process and obtain constitutional amendments that will grow the power of the federal government?

The realistic answer is: Absolutely not.

The reason this is true is found in the specific steps in the process and the current control of legislatures by political party.

There are three steps in the process: 1. Application; 2. Drafting Amendments; 3. Ratification.

The rule of one-state, one-vote applies to each stage.

There have been 400 Article V applications in the history of the country. But, we have never had a convention because there never has been an agreement among two-thirds of the states on the subject matter. When 34 states call a convention on the same subject, then and only then do we have a convention.

While the left can certainly propose a convention on their own, they do not have the necessary number of states to get to 34 applications.

There are currently 28 states where the GOP controls both houses of the state legislature. Governors have no say in the Article V process. There are 5 states where each party controls one house. There are 17 states where DEMs control both houses.

The left simply cannot get to 34 without gaining approval from all 5 split states and 12 more GOP states if they seek to call an Article V convention to expand the power of government. That is a political impossibility.

It is possible to get to 34 for a conservative convention by gaining support from most of the split states and two or three DEM states. For example, if the West Virginia legislature believes that they will get the power to set their own coal policy, then gaining approval from that DEM state becomes very plausible.

The same thing is true for stage two—drafting the amendments.

The subject matter of the convention was already established by the application stage, but the specific language of proposed amendments must be approved by 26 states. The 17 DEM states simply don’t have the votes to get language approved. They really can’t even stop good language if all GOP states agree.

For stage three, the possibility of gaining approval for a liberal constitutional amendment goes to absolute zero. At this stage, 38 states must vote to ratify. A state does not ratify unless both houses agree. Therefore, if a single house in 13 states votes NO on a particular amendment, it is defeated.

The math simply dictates that it is impossible to ratify a liberal constitutional amendment because there are 28 GOP states and in 5 other states the GOP controls one house. Getting one house in 13 out of 33 states to vote NO on a liberal amendment is a political certainty.

In theory, both sides can use the Article V process equally. But, in reality it is like saying that the Peace & Labor Party has the right to run its candidates for President. They may have the right to do so, but it is impossible for them to win. The same thing is true here.

Conservatives can win any battles that will be won. Since we don’t have 38 states, we can’t expect to ratify anything perceived as extremely conservative. But, we can gain victory for a package of conservative ideas with broad popular appeal like balanced budgets, term limits, spending and tax limitations.

Read more articles by The Association of Mature American Citizens