Written by William S. Hahn on December 26, 2023
Published in the January 15, 2024 issue of the New American magazine. Vol. 40, No. 01
Before he became a U.S. representative, Andy Biggs spent eight years as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives. He followed that with six years in the Arizona Senate, being its president for four of those years.
Since he was elected to the U.S. Congress, his voting record has spoken volumes about his adherence to the constitutional limitations on the federal government.
In his first two terms in Congress (2017-2020) he earned 90 percent on The New American’s Freedom Index. In the three years since, he has consistently earned 100 percent — including in our index in this issue, far surpassing his House colleagues, who averaged 33 percent.
By following constitutional limitations, Biggs has not voted to expand the welfare state. He has not voted to entangle the United States in unconstitutional alliances or wars. He has not voted to allow the printing presses of the Treasury to inflate the money supply or add money to the federal debt. He has not voted to add to the morass of bureaucracy. He has not supported the overall federal usurpation of America. He has voted to protect liberty and the overall freedom of all Americans.
In short, Biggs is an example of a responsible statesman with a voting record that elected officials should emulate. Yet, many supporters of an Article V Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) have indicated they favor amending the Constitution to include term limits. If so amended, then Big Government “conservatives” would applaud Representative Biggs being denied another term and likely spend millions to ensure his replacement is conservative-lite (i.e., someone who says the right things to get elected, but does not practice them once in office).
Many convention proponents also support a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA). Yet, as Representative Biggs has proven, adhering to constitutional limitations leads to fiscal responsibility. Under a BBA, emergency loopholes and other stipulations could be added that actually make it constitutional to not be fiscally responsible and ignore the role of the Federal Reserve and the fractional reserve banking and fiat currency that allow such irresponsibility.
As an Arizona legislator, Biggs was a strong opponent of an Article V Convention and wrote the book The Con of the Con-Con (2015) to explain why. He wrote, “People ask me why I oppose altering the U.S. Constitution through a process initiated by the States.… I respond with just a couple of questions. ‘Do you believe that the U.S. Constitution is the cause of the problems in America today?’ Most people say no. I then ask why they would tinker with something that isn’t the problem instead of addressing the real issue. Their approach is like overhauling an engine to fix a flat tire.”
Written by William S. Hahn on December 26, 2023
Published in the January 15, 2024 issue of the New American magazine. Vol. 40, No. 01
As John Adams explained, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” In other words, those who already submit to authority and follow the rules would naturally obey the Constitution. Not following the Constitution results in Big Government that grows beyond its limitations and usurps powers rightfully belonging to We the People. Why would those not following the Constitution change their ways with a new amendment?
Those who don’t like paying federal income taxes (16th Amendment) and don’t enjoy having U.S. senators not be accountable to the states (17th Amendment) can expect similar, if not much worse, outcomes from a modern-day convention.
The Founding Fathers did not expect an ignorant people to hold on to freedom. Their experience of successfully generating a movement for independence largely depended on disseminating information and creating relationships among those who actually wanted to do something. The John Birch Society provides the tools, the agenda, and the leadership for you to do the same. Start at JBS.org to learn how you can stop a convention from being held.