Letter: Consider a convention of states

Dear Editor,

The Wyoming Legislature will be considering HJ0001 and HJ0002 which address Wyoming submitting an application to Congress, along with other states, to call for a Convention of States. A convention is necessary because Washington, D.C. is out-of-control and the federal government will never rein in its own power. Therefore, it is up to the state legislatures to assert control over Washington. This is not a Constitutional Convention, which is entirely different from a Convention of States; which are the state legislatures sending delegates to discuss amendments to the Constitution, not replacing it. Currently we have a runaway Congress and federal government which takes gross advantage of interpretations of the Constitution to bully, mandate, regulate, tax and grab power from the states and citizens. With $20,000,000,000,000 in debt and Congress continuing the vicious cycle of “tax, spend, borrow, raise-the-debt-ceiling, invent taxes, raise taxes, borrow more money, raise the ceiling higher” ad nauseam and issuing a myriad of regulations strangling businesses, organizations, and the states, the Federal government must be reined in. An Article 5 Convention of States was placed in the Constitution by our Founders as they knew federal power would one day be abused by Washington and a safety valve would be needed to rectify the situation, as we have today. Constitutional amendments are proposed via two methods: Congress (as with the 27 current amendments) or the state legislatures. An Article 5 Convention is designed to take power away from Washington and restore it to the states and the people. Rep. Nathan Winters has introduced HJ0001 and HJ0002 so that Wyoming can join the other states in calling for a Convention of States. Please go to http://www.conventionofstates.com to learn more about Article 5, sign the petition online and call both your Wyoming State Legislature Representatives and Senators requesting they support passage of HJ0001 and HJ0002. It comes down to this: do we trust Washington, D.C. or do we trust ourselves via our state legislators?

Steven Melia

Laramie