THE ONLY WAY OUT: A Pocket Guide to the Liberty Amendments

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While electing a President who is a Constitutional Conservative would be a great start, it is unlikely to reverse a century-long march of progressive radicals bent on centralization of power in Washington.

An Article V Convention process is, in my opinion, the only way out short of civil unrest. I will not explain it here, though you can find an excellent overview here.

In his bestselling book The Liberty Amendments, Mark Levin describes 11 Constitutional Amendments that devolve power from the increasingly authoritarian, central government back to the states that gave it birth. Hans A. von Spakovsky summarized Levin's amendments in a concise form, which are handy to use for reference purposes.

• Establish twelve-year term limits for members of Congress and the Supreme Court;
• Repeal the 17th Amendment;
• Allow either Congress or the states to overturn a Supreme Court decision within 24 months with a three fifths vote of the members of both houses or the states;
• Require a federal budget to be enacted by May or impose an automatic across-the-board 5 percent cut, and the budget may not exceed total tax receipts or 17.5 percent of GDP;
• Place a 15 percent limit on the amount of income taxes collected from natural and legal persons, change the tax-return filing date to the day before federal elections, and ban federal estate, value-added, or sales taxes;
• Require every federal agency to be reauthorized every three years in a stand-alone bill or else expire, and require a seven-member House committee to approve all regulations with an economic burden greater than $100 million within six months or cancel implementation of the regulation;
• Limit the Commerce Clause to preventing states from impeding commerce and trade between the states, and specify that it does not extend to activity within states (whether or not it affects interstate commerce) or to compelling an individual to participate in commerce;
• Extend the protection against seizure of private property to require compensation for regulations that reduce market value or interfere with the use of property in an amount exceeding $10,000;
• Change Article V so that any constitutional amendment, proposed by anyone, will be adopted if it is ratified by two thirds of the states;
• Require a 30-day waiting period between agreement upon the final version of any congressional bill (engrossment) and the final vote to approve it, and allow three fifths of the states to override any federal statute or any federal regulation with a cost exceeding $100 million within 24 months of passage or approval; and
• Require valid photo ID and proof of citizenship to register and vote in all federal elections, in person or by mail, and limit early voting to 30 days before the election (except for active-duty military personnel).

As of this writing, at least 30 states have initiated an Article V process. Your involvement with state politics can strengthen this initiative.

You can track national activities on the Convention of States front at ConventionOfStates.com. It's the only way out.