From the Washington Examiner - By: Randy B. Barnett - Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, has introduced into Congress a very simple and clear amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Called the Repeal Amendment, it reads:"Any provision of law or regulation of the United States may be repealed by the several states, and such repeal shall be effective when the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states approve resolutions for this purpose that particularly describe the same provision or provisions of law or regulation to be repealed."
In short, the legislatures of two-thirds of the states can repeal any federal law or regulation. Arising from those who are distressed at the seemingly limitless power of the federal government -- taking over everything from car companies, banks, student loans, and even the practice of medicine -- the Repeal Amendment seems to have touched a nerve on the left. First, the Washington Post's Dana Milbank played the race card. "[T]here's the unfortunate echo of nullification -- the right asserted by states to ignore federal laws they found objectionable -- and the 'states' rights' argument that was used to justify slavery and segregation." But this is imaginary. Undermining civil rights is simply not on the agenda of anyone who favors this. Besides, to reach the two-thirds threshold to repeal any law would require the support of lots of blue states as well as red states, from different parts of the country. Then Slate's Dahlia Lithwick attempted to find a contradiction in supporters' professed love for the Constitution. "For a party (whether of the Tea or Grand Old variety) that sees the Constitution as something so perfect as to have been divinely inspired, the idea that it needs to be altered fundamentally is beyond crediting. . . ." But the Constitution includes the amendment process of Article V, which has already been used to alter the scheme by allowing an income tax and eliminating the power of state legislatures to select U.S. senators. Read more
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