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The Necessary and Proper Clause Grants Congress No Power

June 1, 2015 Rob Natelson 0

In a recent post, I pointed out that, despite superficial appearances, the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause—clarifying that Congress has authority to make laws “necessary and proper” to carrying out its other enumerated powers—actually grants Congress no power.
The Necessary and Proper Clause is representative of one of four related kinds of provisions found in 18th […]

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Where Chief Justice Burger Likely Got His Anti-Amendment Convention Views

March 20, 2015 Rob Natelson 0

This article originally appeared in the American Thinker.
Opponents of the Constitution’s Article V convention method of proposing amendments tout three letters written in the 1980s by former Chief Justice Warren Burger. In those letters, Burger took a very hard line against any convention of states that might bypass Congress and propose corrective constitutional amendments.
I’ve previously […]

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Mike Stern Rebuts Claim that “Congress would control a convention”

March 6, 2015 Rob Natelson 0

Article V scholar and former House of Representatives legal counsel Mike Stern has just written a response to the irresponsible claim that Congress could control a Convention for Proposing Amendments, either by specifying how commissioners are allocated or in other ways.
His response is worth wide publicity. Here it is:
RESPONSE TO FEBRUARY 24, 2015 PAPER ENTITLED […]

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The Washington Post Picks Up the Flag from the Convention Alarmists

October 27, 2014 Rob Natelson 0

The past week saw yet another assault on those reformers who seek to cure federal dysfunction by promoting a “Convention for proposing Amendments.”
The latest attack took the form of an opinion column that in content offered nothing new. It featured many of the usual errors of commission and omission: The author confused a “Convention for […]