New Comment by Ben Shapiro: Convention of States is ‘Quite a Good Idea’

As we’ve written before, conservative pundit Ben Shapiro endorsed the Convention of States.

“I absolutely support the Convention of States Project, designed for fulfilling the Constitutional methodologies for protecting our rights. Article V exists so that the people have the final say, not the federal government.  Yes, it can happen — and yes, it should happen,” he said at the time.  “We should begin by completely restructuring the unconstitutional federal executive bureaucracy; only Congress has constitutional legislative authority.  Administrative agencies should not be making law.  If you believe the people should decide instead of Washington, D.C., then you should support the Convention of States Project.”

When Shapiro endorsed the Convention of States project, Mark Meckler was thrilled. “I think he’s one of the smartest guys commenting on politics today,” Meckler said. “I think he has a really unique voice because he’s so much younger than most commentators. He really speaks to Millennials.”

Recently, on a show, Shapiro read fan mail with the question.  “What do you think of the Convention of States?”

He said, “I’m a fan of the Convention of States. The Convention of States is a fine idea. I know there are a lot of concerns about a ‘runaway convention,’ where people just start proposing random ideas and suddenly they’re being ratified by the states.  But anything that is passed through a Convention of States still has to be ratified by the states, so I don’t really see how that is going to happen. I’m fine with the idea of a Convention of States; I think it’s quite a good idea.”

Article V of the U.S. Constitution gives states the power to call a Convention of States to propose amendments. It takes 34 states to call the convention and 38 to ratify any amendments that are proposed. Our convention would only allow the states to discuss amendments that, “limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, impose fiscal restraints, and place term limits on federal officials.”