Exclusive: Speaker Howell open to any action that will cause Congress to listen
By JR Hoeft | Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 | PolicyEarlier today I had the opportunity to speak with Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates William Howell for about twenty minutes regarding his involvement in calling a potential Constitutional Convention.
Howell said that he is very interested in the idea of a convention and has been actively talking about the idea with several national leaders, including former U.S. Attorney General Ed Messe, as we reported on Bearing Drift Sunday, as well as his peers in the American Legislative Exchange Council.
“Real change comes from changing the current law,” said Howell. “If twenty-eight states call for a convention, Congress will take notice.”
He feels that right now, Congress is not responsive to what a majority of Americans feel and is enacting an agenda that is far too revolutionary in scope.
However, Howell is very aware that some conservatives worry about the prospect of a Constitutional Convention, including noted author and philosopher Phyllis Schlafly.
Schlafly has written as recent as May that, “The trouble with a [Constitutional Convention] is that there are no rules in the Constitution or in any law to limit a Con Con’s purpose, procedure, agenda, or election of delegates. Congress has repeatedly rejected bills to establish rules or procedures. There is no way to control a Con Con in advance or to require it to consider only one subject.”
But Howell sees a convention as perhaps the only way to revitalize the 10th amendment and repeal the 17th amendment (the direct election of Senators). He would like to see states have more parity with the federal government.
“Congress has been unresponsive to the states and the people,” said Howell. “This is not a Republican-initiated idea, but a lot of independents are outraged [by the actions of Congress] as well – as they should be. For example, a few short years ago Sen. Mark Warner was governor and knew the budget dilemma we faced with Medicaid. Now, this so-called ‘radical centrist’ is voting for millions of dollars of unfunded mandates on Virginia and increasing our liabilities.”
Howell acknowledged that the possibility of a convention is extremely remote and will not be brought to a vote during this General Assembly.
“This is not at the top of my ‘to do’ list,” he said, knowing full-well that Virginia’s budget short-fall and transportation concerns will be more than enough to dominate the next sixty-day session. But he did not rule out the possibility of the legislature calling for one next year.
Howell is interested in seeing Article V have a “third way”. In other words, he is interested in the states having the option to amend the Constitution in the same manner that Congress can…where two-thirds can propose AN amendment and have it ratified by three-quarters of the states. Right now, the only recourse for states is to have the full-blown, perhaps runaway, “Con Con”.
However, Howell said it goes without question that even if 34 states agreed to hold a convention, it would likely be held up in years of litigation and acknowledged that perhaps the best change still remains our elections.
He closed our conversation by quoting Jefferson: “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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7 Responses to "Exclusive: Speaker Howell open to any action that will cause Congress to listen"
I don’t see why there would be litigation regarding a convention, the Constitution is pretty cut and dried, and as for it being a run away – anything it passed would require the votes of 3/4 of the states, nothing is going to run away with that type of majority being necessary for ratification.
Howell has good ideas, none of which would ever make it through Congress. Even amending Article V would never get through.
And I keep going back and forth about direct election of Senators. I agree that states lost a vital link to the federal government in that amendment, but appointed Senators were ripe with corruption that would make today’s politicians blush.
I’m glad to hear that Howell is talking about the unfunded Medicaid mandate that will cause more budget burdens on Virginia. I am surprised however that big wheels at the state level (Howell can get Warner, Webb & Perriello’s attention faster than I can) have no more sway than I. Those Dems in Congress just want to bankrupt Virginia.
Think about that. and vow to yourself to work hard to defeat them.
I’m not sure I understand how letting the state legislature appoint our U.S. Senators is a good idea.
Aren’t the folks in Richmond the same corrupt, professional politicians that the Tea Party folks condemn?
How does taking election of Senators away from the people make them more responsive to the people?
As for the 10th Amendment. It’s a dead leatter. We are citizens of the United States. We’re merely residents of the various states. Most of us will reside in more than one over lifetimes.
The primacy of the federal government is a fact, get over it.
You can of course work to have the federal government adopt policies that are more in line with your way of thinkings, that’s politics.
Proposals to change the rules of the game because we aren’t getting the resutls we want are unproductive, for either side.
Steve, Senators are NOT supposed to be responsive to the people (at least not as envisioned by the Founders.) Senators are supposed to represent the STATES. That is why the House of Representatives has long been called THE PEOPLE’S HOUSE. The diminution of state power (and the evisceration of the 10th Amendment) corresponds to the institution of the direct election of senators.
Riley: They wouldn’t represent the STATES (whatever that means, states don’t have political opinions, people do), they’d represent the same corrupt gangs in the state capitals that conservatives are always upset about. Also, I think the Civil War, which occured well before the direct election of U.S. Senators, might have had a little something to do with the diminution of state power. Then, the advocates of States Rights tried to destroy the country. Let’s hope they don’t try that again.
Ridiculous advice coming from the man most responsible for dismantling a transportation system that was just a decade ago one of the best in the nation, and now resembles that of a third world country. Abandoned and deteriorated bridges and tunnels, a grade of D- because of failure to maintain roads, grass so high you can’t see the signs, closed rest stops, no state funding for local road construction and soon no money to match federal dollars for interstate construction so other states will receive our share and take our jobs. I guess he wants to share these ideas with other states so they will take similar action so Virginia won’t look like spendthrifts.
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