(JustPatriots.com)- Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has joined the Convention of States Project as a senior advisor. And in an op-ed at Newsmax, Santorum explains why he looks forward to working with the organization.
The purpose of the project is to create an Article V Convention of States. Article V of the Constitution outlines the methods available to amend the US Constitution. One of the two ways is to establish a convention consisting of 34 states which meet to propose possible constitutional amendments.
Author Mark Levin kicked off interest in a Convention of States with his 2014 book The Liberty Amendments.
Santorum argues that the federal government has squeezed individual states out of the process and amassed far too much power as a result.
One way this happened was depriving state legislatures of selecting the US Senators who would represent them in the Federal government. By amending the constitution to elect Senators by popular vote, the US Senate no longer serves the interests of each state government. The founders had intended the House of Representatives to represent the people while the Senate was to represent the states. But the 17th Amendment changed that.
Santorum explains that the Convention of States is the best way for the states to reclaim their place in our constitutional system of government.
He also argues that our Constitution is getting amended, not according to Article V, but through judicial fiat.
Santorum believes that a Convention of States could also rein in the authoritarian powers Presidents have granted to themselves by legislating through executive order and through the regulatory bureaucracy.
In short, Santorum’s arguments are the very arguments Mark Levin made in his 2014 book.
Santorum concludes by pointing out that Washington is not going to fix itself. And while there are still “good people in Washington,” Santorum explains, “they won’t save our nation.” Santorum believes the best way to “stop the authoritarian juggernaut” is for the people and the states to step in. And the most powerful tool they have is the Article V Convention of States.
Read Santorum’s full op-ed HERE.
