Sunday, July 18, 2010

Article XIV, SEC. 2 of the Maryland Constitution states:

“It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by Law for taking, at the general election to be held in the year nineteen hundred and seventy, and every twenty years thereafter, the sense of the People in regard to calling a Convention for altering this Constitution; and if a majority of voters at such election or elections shall vote for a Convention, the General Assembly, at its next session, shall provide by Law for the assembling of such convention, and for the election of Delegates thereto…”

The founders wisely provided the amendment process to allow the legislature and the citizens to modify the Constitution as they deemed necessary, knowing full well that it was a difficult and lengthy process.  This was in no way by accident.

While many well-intentioned Marylanders believe we should have a convention, I question why we would need to revise our Constitution when most of today’s elected officials’ have not even read it, much less understand or adhere to it.  Today, the Constitution that is the foundation of our country is viewed by the left as a living, breathing document subject to many interpretations.  If this is the case then why is government today so hostile to its original intent to protect the people and limit government?

What makes us think that a new constitution will be respected by our elected leaders? The current outcry across America is that we adhere to the limitations of our State and U.S. Constitutions, not that we rewrite them to promote a left-leaning agenda of larger government and fewer individual rights.

In a current poll,  The Washington Post found that more than 60 percent of Marylanders support a convention. This concerns me.

There is certainly the possibility that some good could come from a convention, but given today’s liberal teachings by America’s universities and the stronghold the left has on the media, I caution that we may end up with a Constitution that defies the founders’ intent of limited government.

I would propose that rather than rewrite the state Constitution,  we ought to simply hold our elected representatives accountable to adhere to the Constitution as it is currently written. After all, it was written to protect your God given right to life, liberty and property.

Some may be willing to give up these rights, but I will fight to the end to protect the Constitution and your rights as the founders of Maryland intended.  Please vote NO to a Constitutional convention when you vote in November.

Constitutionally yours,

Delegate Don Dwyer, Jr.   AACO Dist.31