Ed Vidal's Convention of States talk at AMP Fest

Ed Vidal spoke at the American Priorities Festival and Conference (AMP Fest) on why a Convention of States under Article V could help resolve some of the problems we face today. A Q&A session followed, where Ed addressed some common fears about a Convention and spoke with a VA citizen who had done a survey on the people's desire for term limits.

The conference was held in October 2019 at the Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida.

Ed Vidal is a Convention of States Action Regional Legislative Liaison and a District Captain, in Sunny Southern Florida, in the Miami area.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

My name is Ed Vidal. I'm a volunteer with the Convention of States Project. We have Nancy Suits, who is the state Communications Coordinator for the Convention of States Project here in Florida, and Keith Bessette, who is our man behind the cameras. So welcome. I know we have a small crowd, but we're going to go through it and give you an explanation of what Convention of States is all about. As you all know, I'm sure because you're at this conference, Washington is broken. Washington is spending out of control completely. Washington is exercising power over things that don't belong to it. And Washington has a permanent class of politicians and also a permanent class of bureaucrats that is camping out on the American government in the way that the founding fathers never intended. So what are we going to do? Are we going to send good people to Washington? No, because they get corrupted when they get there. We know Washington is not going to fix itself. We need to have a way of fixing Washington from outside Washington. So how do we do that? Well, our founding fathers who turn out to be pretty terrific provided for that in our constitution. The article five of the constitution provides that the constitution may be amended in two ways. One is for Congress to, uh, propose an amendment. There've been 27. Congress proposes it and it goes to, it passes through two thirds of the houses, Senate and house of representatives. And it goes to the state. You need three quarters, 75% of the States right now, that's 38 States. So that's the way 27 amendments had been passed, including the bill of rights. The first 10 amendments, which were passed within two years after the constitution was enacted. In fact, if you think about it, the Federalists, uh, and when the constitution was being discussed, the Federalists wanted the constitution. It was people like James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin. But there were a lot of other very patriotic Americans who had doubts. People like George Mason, Edmund Randolph from Virginia, and they had doubts about this new government because they thought it would be too powerful. So they insisted on the 10 amendments, which put limits on what this government can do. And so James Madison, he wasn't a Congressman, the first Congress he saw to it that it got through the first 10 amendments were passed. But that's not the only way because as George Mason pointed out, what if Congress is the problem and it won't fix itself, which is where we are today. So in their wisdom, the founding father provided for a way for the citizens to require Congress to call a convention to consider amendment. And that way is you go to your state legislatures, the house and Senate in all the States, except for Nebraska, which is only one house, and you persuade them to pass a petition petitioning Congress to create this convention of States. Now, this started a few years ago, but you can see that the great state of Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, many others, we have 15 States so far. We need 34 and we're working on that all the time. So that's what the Convention of States does. So the question then is what are we looking to, what k ind of amendments are we looking to have, because we talked about how debt and spending is out of control. Government regulation is out of control and government incumbency is out of control. People are staying in government for forever. It seems. So the three types of amendments that we've considered a requiring o ur number one, u h, fiscal responsibility amendment, it's not the same necessarily as a balanced budget amendment because if you have a balanced budget amendment, it can backfire and require you to raise taxes. That's happened a t the state of Illinois recently where they had, in order to balance their budget, they h ad to raise taxes. That's not, that's not the right solution. Uh, number two, we're thinking of amendments that would limit and[inaudible] and announce limits on interstate commerce because that's how the federal government gets into all these things. We need to make sure that those limits are enforced. Until around 1936 when Franklin Roosevelt won reelection and the new deal became a permanent part of our government, uh, the, the many of the powers that the federal government has taken on since then, we're not allowed. They were struck down by the Supreme court saying this is excessive interference with interstate commerce. You're overplaying your hands. So that's number two. And number three, we're looking at term limits. Uh, we're looking at term limits for Congressman. We're looking at term limits for senators. We're looking at term limits for judges maybe 20 years instead of lifetime appointment. Because remember the founding fathers did not expect people to live as long. People didn't live as long. So if you got a lifetime appointment, it was not like a 40 year appointment. It was more like a 20 year appointment. Uh, I think there might be a good idea to have term limits on federal bureaucrats as well. You can't work in the federal government for more than 10 years or something like, you know, have some rotation. So they, they find out what the business sector is like. So that's what we're looking at. That's what the movement's about here in the state of Florida. We've already passed it, but we have to stay alert because there are attempts, uh, recently funded by George Soros to get rid of them with withdrawal. The resolution here in the state of Florida and in other States, I think they tried it in Tennessee, hasn't gone anywhere so far. Uh, so that's what we're looking at. So we were looking@peopletojoinourmovementandyoucandothatbygoingtoconventionstate.com. You can also sign up to be a volunteer. And most of all we need people to sign up to be district captains. Um, now do we have any questions from the audience or any, any doubts, uh, folks here, you're, you're new to this. I think maybe you want to tell us what do you, do you have any doubts? I mean, I can tell you one doubt that you often comes up, people are worried about a runaway convention that uh, this convention will be called and Progressive's are going to get ahold of it and they're going to repeal the second amendment, for example. That's a reasonable concern. However, I can assure you that many people have considered it and said it's very unlikely. People like the late justice, uh, Eugene Scalia, I'm sorry, Antonin Scalia. Eugene is his son who is new then that the new secretary of labor, he said it's not likely to happen. Same thing with Mark Levin. And the reason is you need a 38 States to pass an amendment to the constitution. So 13 States could easily be found that would not permit the second amendment to be taken off. So the likelihood of a runaway convention is very small, really. It, you know, there's some risks, but it's worth the risk. But I will tell you one other thing. Right now, there are four runaway conventions in session in the United States. The first one is the president with a phone and the pen, he can do things like DACA, which he had said for, you know, six years that it was on. He didn't have the constitutional power to do it. And then he signed, uh, an executive order and we had DACA, you know, uh, deferred, uh, uh, the[inaudible] deportation for certain people. He had acknowledged you didn't have the power to do it, but he did it anyway. He didn't care. That's a runaway convention. Number two, we have federal judges legislating from the bench. How many of you can find the word right to privacy in the constitution? It's not there. That's what Roe V Wade was based on. In fact, uh, in the case where the right to privacy was considered, they said it would come from the penumbras and emanations of the constitution. Imagine that that's like a ghost comes from the penumbras and emanations numbers or shadows. Emanations so it's like the constitution is a living or a dead ghost giving off the numbers. The same sex marriage case Obergefell justice Kennedy found a right to dignity. There's no right to dignity in the constitution. So, but these are judges that are going through a runaway constitutional convention as we speak. Num. Uh, in fact, Richard Semos now here points out that there are two constitutions in effect. One constitution is this, it's got 4,500 words. I recommend everyone carry one, including the declaration. And then you have the code of federal regulations and the Supreme court reporter with all the cases decided by the Supreme and they say what the constitution is. So that's, that's ridiculous. So that's number two, runaway judges. Number three, Congress. Congress is a runaway convention because they delegate the power to legislate. The constitution says power. Congress will have the power to Del to legislate, to make laws. Instead, what Congress does is it delegates the lawmaking authority to these administrative agencies. How many of you know the, uh, Dodd Frank act of, uh, around 2010, there were 243 cases where that statute says the secretary shell. So they're delegating all that rulemaking to the administrative agencies. So the administrative branch. And then number four, where in the constitution does it have all these agencies, right? The, the, uh, you name them, the environmental party, EPA, OSHA, Arista. I mean, there are all these agencies, national recovery administration back in the new deal. They're not in the constitution. They are over, over delegation by Congress, which is shirking its obligation and duty to, to legislate. And what they're doing is they're spending all the time fundraising for their reelection. Uh, and so that's why we have to get to term limits. But that's what we are, we're up against. And the fourth branch of the, of the federal government, which is not in the constitution, is this administrative branch. And we can see it rebelling against a duly elected president right now. It's the CIA, the FBI department of justice that they're not in the constitution. Uh, it, you know, the, the department of Navy is in the constitution cause uh, the founding fathers knew that we were going to have to defend ourselves, the department of war. But that's it. You know that all these alphabet soup agencies are not in the constitution. They're, they're acting as legislators, they're acting as enforcers executive. So they're enforcing the rules that they made. And then they bring you up before an administrative law judge. So this unconstitutional agency, the securities and exchange commission is completely destroying the separation of powers between legislation, executive and judiciary. They do all three all by themselves. They're unconstitutional. So that's what we're up against. I think there are plenty of runaway conventions we need, we need this convention state in order to check, uh, the power of this progressive government. And let me leave you with one final thought. You know, we've been running the progressive movement started in America around 1900 with Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson specially. And that movement is still with us. They, they call themselves by different names or liberals or leftists, progressive it, they're socialists, they're at the international word for it. They're socialists. They don't want to use that word in America, but they're socialists just like the European socialists, like the Latin American socialist, like the Asian socialists. And the progressive movement is a counter revolution against the American revolution. They want to get rid of what the constitution created. And you can read it even when, when Woodrow Wilson was getting his PhD at Johns Hopkins, he wrote about it, you know, he, he, he hated the separation of power. He wanted government to have all this power together. And that's what this administrative state allows it to do. And you can see today all the opposition from the progressive is against the constitutional order that creates a separation of powers. It creates sovereignty and the people, you know how many, I was just hearing that the administrative state's supposed to protect the constitutional order from the elections, the results of elections. That's what we're up against. So that's why I think the convention States offers a reasonable path to correct these by amending our constitution to create fiscal responsibility, limiting the power of the federal government through the interstate commerce clause. And finally term limits for everyone. Uh, I'm happy to take questions or debates if anybody who, uh, has a different view. I've already dealt with the runaway convention issue. Um, I don't know if there might be others and you know, is this gonna get done? Well, it might get done. We're going to keep working at it. We're not going to give up. But remember, the process is part of the solution. Being waking everybody up and making them citizens for self-governance is part of this process. And that was, you know, when, when we get to it doesn't matter. We're going to fight and we're going to fight and we're going to fight. And that will make us better citizens that will preserve our Liberty. Milton Friedman said that we would know, we conservatives, classical liberals would know we were winning, not when we elected the right people, because they're never the right people. They go to Washington and they turn wrong, you know, and it's hard to find, right people, good people. He said, we would know we were winning because when the wrong people did the right thing, because they were afraid of the climate of opinion. And that's what we want to do. We want to create a climate of opinion that's in favor of fiscal responsibility, limited government and free enterprise. It's the spirit of the time. The German word is zeitgeists the ghost of the time, the spirit of the time. We want people to think, Oh my God, I can't do this. Nobody. And right now, you know, we're, we're overspending. We're overregulating. Um, you know, free speech has to be protected. That's the problem. The mainstream media, Hollywood, academia, they are all controlling the spirit of the times and we are, this is part of fighting back. It's an effective way to do it. It's a way that the founding fathers provided for us. So keep that in mind. Yes ma'am.

Speaker 2: 14:56

[inaudible][inaudible]

Speaker 1: 14:57

yes ma'am. Article five the Congress, do we have to show whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary shall propose amendment to the constitution. So that's the usual way or in the applicant on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several States. So that's where you need 34 States. The legislature, not the governor and both. Most legislatures have two houses, so we have to get them through both houses. Okay. So from two thirds of the several States shall call a convention for proposing amendments and that's in article five. Article one is about Congress. Legislative power is supposed to be the most important article to as the executive branch. The executive is supposed to faithfully execute the laws created by Congress. And article three is creates a Supreme, the chief dusters of the United States and lays the foundation for the federal court. The actual federal courts are created by Congress, but article three is the judicial power. And, uh, and then the other other, other articles are for miscellaneous stuff. And article five is about how to amend this. So they left us a, a way to do it. They knew that Washington would not fix itself. And that was George Mason. He called out James Madison on that. And Madison agreed. And Madison said, you know, you're right. It's really the Indian American, the American revolution is a really strange revolution. Cause every, you know, the Americans were, it was a civil war. We were fighting loyalists. We were fighting people who are in different, the Patriots were. But even among the Patriots, there were different points of view. And I think there was no sharper contrast into Federalists versus the anti-federalists. But the genius and the wonder of America is that they came together and, and you know, they, the federal has got their constitution and Alexander Hamilton would have almost wanted a monarchy. Uh, but then George Mason and Edmund Randolph and others got their safeguards. And so we're relying on their safeguards. Now 200 plus years later when, when things have gone wrong with this spirit of a times has gone against the spirit of the constitution. And, uh, that's what we have to fight. You know, that's what we have to stand up for. But that's a good point. Yes sir.

Speaker 2: 17:29

Cause you're[inaudible]

Speaker 1: 17:33

there is no target date there. I mean, what's the target date for Liberty? That's why I was saying this is a process. Uh, we're, we're moving forward. We're making, we're gaining States every year and they come in spurts. Uh, after Trump was elected, there was, I think, I think there was a letdown because people said all we, it, no, you don't have it. And then this year there had been three or four States had been added and more States are coming. I think next year you're going to have more States. But there's no, there's no target. I mean there's no deadline for Liberty. We have to keep fighting every, you know, George Reagan said that Liberty's only one generation away from extinction. So there's no targeted we were at, and now as I was saying, we want to create citizens that are constantly considering their self-governance and how to, how to stay free. It's not free, you know, it is freedom is not free. That's what the army says. Uh, and we have to keep working at it. If we want to do it, there's no deadline. Okay. Anybody wants, okay, so who wants to sign up? Yes sir. We have plenty of district captains here. We will register you. We also ask that you signed the petition. Okay. Well then we'll, we'll sign you up here as a district. Where do you live? Oh, in central Florida. Okay, sure. We'll be happy to take you on. So are you in favor of convention States? You considering it? Do you know what? Do you know about it?

Speaker 3: 19:00

Yeah, so, uh,[inaudible] I ran out. Um, so just to give you a[inaudible] district and I just had a whole lot connection States to see whether or not people would be in favor, favor of term limits. Well, uh, I ran, I ran a poll and 97% of 10,000 people that voted on and were in favor of the term limits. And this is the poll that went harshly, viral. It went around. And so, and then I noticed that there were some big liberal accounts actually free posting, uh, of this poll. So there was liberal conservative people all voting on it and 97% were in favor of the terminal.[inaudible]

Speaker 1: 19:43

term limits is a very popular item. Uh, some people are against them. They say, well, you know, if you have changes in the legislators, then they won't know what was there before. And I said, no, I mean, that's like saying, Oh, I shouldn't be held to a, uh, the law of Moses because I wasn't around when it was promulgated. No, you read whatever the statute is, the statute book or the Bible and you comply with it. So just because legislators are changing doesn't mean that they're going to forget everything that was there before. The danger of term limits for legislators is that you often have a permanent bureaucracy that lives there and outlast the legislators. And that's a threat. And that's why I think we need to consider term limits on how long you can work in the, in the bureaucracy, at the federal level and also at the state level. Because you know these bureaucrats look, it's happening now, the president Trump, all these bureaucrats saying, Oh we're going to outlast this guy where he's going to be gone in four years or eight years and we'll still be here. So that's a real issue. Term limits for legislators, congressmen, senators and I think also judges is very popular. So what, where are you running for Congress? Okay, so what towns are in the seventh district but you know, you, you, you've got the issue of term limits are good. You can, I think if you say you support this convention States that will go far. Alright, so that's it. Almost 12 thank you very much. You all

Speaker 4: 21:21

question facing us and facing our fellow countrymen is a two word question. Very simply. Who decides? The American founders had a simple answer. We[inaudible].

Speaker 5: 21:33

We'll just[inaudible].