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WATCH: Mark Levin discusses The Liberty Amendments at Reagan Library with Q&A

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Photo Credit: CNS News

Photo Credit: CNS News

Mark Levin recently returned to the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California to talk about his new #1 New York Times bestselling book, The Liberty Amendments.

Levin begins his work, “I undertook this project not because I believe the Constitution, as originally structured, is outdated and outmoded, thereby requiring modernization through amendments, but because the opposite–that is, the necessity and urgency of restoring constitutional republicanism and preserving the civil society from the growing authoritarianism of the federal Leviathan.”

In the interview at the Reagan Library, Levin quotes George Mason, who in September 1787, only days before the close of the Constitutional Convention, identified the danger of the document only giving Congress the power to initiate amendments to the Constitution. Mason believed, “no amendments of the proper kind would ever be obtained by the people, if the Government should become oppressive,” which would likely be the case over time.

The Framers voted to change Article V (regarding the amendments process) to make provision for the states to propose new amendments to the Constitution without congressional approval. By a vote of two-thirds of the states, a convention can be called to adopt new amendments, which must then be ratified by three-quarters of the states before becoming the law of the land.

Levin argues we have reached a place in our history (foreseen by Mason) in which the federal government has become so pervasive and oppressive that it is a threat to our liberty and the American way of life.

Among the amendments he sees as essential to restoring freedom are term limit amendments on Congress and the Supreme Court, as well as ones to limit federal taxing and spending authority, to curtail the power of the federal bureaucracy, to narrowly define Congress’ authority under the Commerce Clause, to return power to the state legislatures to choose their U.S. Senators, to restrict eminent domain authority, and to require proper photo identification to vote in all the states.

Watch the discussion.

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Levin: Republican Party Stands for Mush (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

Mark Levin: “The issue is ‘are you going to have a civil war that’s going to hurt the Republican Party.’ The issue is ‘What’s right for America?’…I want a 1980 a 1984 those were the administrations I served under where I saw a conservative Republican president who knew what he was doing, who took on the establishment. And the Republican Party after he left lurched back to its neo-statist roots…. So what the hell are the Republicans going to run on? …

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Mark Levin’s Game Changer: Using the Constitution to Arrest Federal Drift

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Photo Credit: Forbes

Photo Credit: Forbes

Two Marks, Levin and Meckler, notably and nobly are proposing to change the rules of modern politics and governance.

Debuting at Amazon Number One (for all, not merely political, books) is syndicated radio talk show host Mark Levin’s The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic. Sporting an average of 4.7 stars from, at the time of this writing, 153 reviews on Amazon, Levin calls for a populist suite of Constitutional amendments to be initiated by the States.

Levin proposes to reform the federal government from its degenerate, bloated, imperial structure back to its (small r) republican roots. Even more interesting than his specific proposals is the mechanism.

There is a little-known “emergency cord” built into the Constitution by the Founders. Find it in Article V. It allows for the States, rather than just the Congress, to propose Constitutional amendments. It is obscure yet entirely legitimate — and invaluable. It was extolled by James Madison in The Federalist No. 43.

Meanwhile, on August 15th, on the ground and the Web, a civic “Seal Team Six” — of operatives and activists — has constituted itself as ConventionOfStates.com. (This columnist has there enlisted as a foot soldier.) Its purpose? “COS seeks to call a Convention of States for a particular subject—limiting the jurisdiction and power of the federal government. This strategy would allow the states to formally consider almost all of Mark Levin’s ‘Liberty Amendments,’ giving delegates the freedom to propose the necessary amendments to stop the runaway power of Washington, D.C.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Breitbart News Interview: Mark Levin and The Liberty Amendments

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Photo Credit: CNS NewsBreitbart News: With The Liberty Amendments, you’re attempting to launch a movement to amend the Constitution. Do you expect to be successful, and how long would it take?

Levin: What I hope to do, at least in some small way, is begin a discussion among those of us who believe the Republic is unraveling, and find a way to re-establish the Constitution and reclaim our heritage. When you look at the massive debt and reckless monetary policies of the federal government; the ability of five Supreme Court justices to pervert the Constitution and impose via fiat their personal policy preferences on the whole of society without any recourse; Congress’s legislating, through massive bills, outside its enumerated powers and its delegation of unchecked power to a massive and growing bureaucracy, which legislates thousands of times each year by regulatory fiat; and the increasing authoritarianism of presidents who issue executive orders to create their own law and also blatantly rewrite statutes by interpretation and execution (or not) based on whether they agree with them or not; I think this and much more evinces the growing and steady decline of constitutional republicanism.

And I’ve concluded that Washington is incapable of reforming itself, which should seem fairly obvious. After all, it has designed the federal Leviathan, which is getting bigger and more aggressive. And I was thinking: What has this federal government become? It is not a constitutional, federal, or representative republic, as our Framers understood those institutions. I believe the federal government is increasingly operating outside the Constitution and that we are in a post-constitutional period. This is how justices, presidents, and members of Congress are able to concoct and then impose such monstrous laws as Obamacare and Dodd-Frank, among thousands of other laws and rules every year, on an unwitting population.

This book is written for those of us who fear what is happening to our nation–the increasing authoritarianism and abuse of the individual–and refuse to accept these events either by pretending they are not serious or as the inevitable decline of a great republic. This has been building for decades, since at least the advent of the Progressive era, and, in my view, requires a resolute, decades’-long effort to reverse course. So, the question arises, what do we do? For those of us who care, my book explores some of the possibilities. And they are provided in the Constitution itself.

The Framers knew better than others what it was like to confront actual tyranny. So why wouldn’t we look to these greatest men for answers? So, that’s what I did. If you look at Article V of the Constitution, it includes, among other things, two processes for amending the Constitution. The first process has resulted in twenty-seven amendments: two-thirds of both Houses of Congress propose an amendment, and three-fourths of the states are required to ratify it. In the second process, which is every bit as legitimate, two-thirds of the states decide to convene a meeting for the purpose of proposing amendments, which are then sent to the states for three-fourths ratification. It is a process that essentially bypasses Congress. Let me be as clear as I can: this second amendment process provides for a convention of the states to propose amendments, which in turn must be ratified by three-fourths of the states; it does not provide for a Constitutional Convention. Furthermore, because three-fourths of the states must ratify proposed amendments, there would be no “runaway convention” overturning the entire Constitution, as some might fear monger. I fully expect the most vociferous critics of this constitutional process to be among those who support or have contributed to all manner of constitutional evasions and distortions in favor of the increasing centralization and concentration of power, which is precisely what the Constitution was established to prevent.

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Mark Levin: States Should Call Convention to Propose Amending Constitution and Put Tax Day, Election Day Back to Back

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Photo Credit: CNS NewsMark Levin: States Should Call Convention to Propose Amending Constitution

Mark Levin, the nationally syndicated radio host who served as chief of staff in the Justice Department during the Reagan Administration, argues in his new book—The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic—that state legislatures should use the authority granted them in the Constitution to call a convention to propose amendments to the Constitution.

“It is the only way out,” Levin said in an interview on CNSNews.com’s Online With Terry Jeffrey. “The federal government, Congress, the Supreme Court, the president, the bureaucracy, they are not going to reform themselves, they are not going to limit their activities. Only we can–through our state representatives from the bottom up.”

Levin’s proposal is based on Article 5 of the Constitution, which says constitutional amendments may be proposed in two ways—either by two-thirds majorities in both houses of Congress or by a convention called by two-thirds of the state legislatures. Whichever way an amendment is proposed, however, it cannot become part of the Constitution unless it is ratified by three-quarters of the states.

“It’s time to turn to the Constitution, to save the Constitution, if you love the Constitution, before there is no Constitution,” Levin told CNSNews.com.

Levin says in The Liberty Amendments that he used to oppose the idea of the state legislatures convening a convention to propose constitutional amendments.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Mark Levin: Amend Constitution to Put Tax Day and Election Day Back to Back

In his new book—The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic—nationally syndicated radio host Mark Levin, who served as chief of staff in the Reagan Justice Department, argues that the Constitution should be amended to put tax day and election day back to back.

“I would move tax day to the day before election day,” Levin said in an interview on CNSNews.com’s Online With Terry Jeffrey.

“I think this is very important, because if you’ll notice, election day and tax day are about as far apart as they can get, like seven months apart,” said Levin. “So we’re voting on the promises of politicians rather than the reality of what these politicians have done.”

“In my view,” said Levin, “particularly when it comes to incumbent politicians, those of us who still pay our federal income taxes, we pay our taxes, then the next day we go out and vote, and I think that is crucially important, so we are linking reality to the electoral process.”

Under current law, Americans must file their federal tax returns by April 15 and elections for federal offices are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

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Mark Levin Hammers Boehner, Chris Christie for Stance on Obama Scandals (+video)

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Photo Credit: Daily CallerOn Neil Cavuto’s “Your World” program on the Fox News Channel Tuesday, syndicated radio talker Mark Levin took on President Barack Obama, the Republican leadership in the U.S. House and New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie for the handling of the various scandals surrounding the White House.

In a nearly 10-minute interview, Levin took on the terrorist attack in Benghazi, the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups, and the National Security Agency’s domestic spying program.

“I will tell you this — this president could give a damn about a serious investigation about scandals that are swirling around his administration,” Levin said. “And then his lackeys go on TV, including ‘Fox News Sunday’ and tell us there’s no evidence. Their people plead the fifth. Their attorney general doesn’t conduct investigations. And what’s necessary is for the Republicans in the House to get their act together. We don’t need five committees investigating Benghazi. We need one special investigative committee with former assistant U.S. attorneys, other types of prosecutors, who are serious people, who have the resources necessary, full-time, to pursue these matters and put the information on the table. Same with the Internal Revenue [Service] investigation.”

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Mark Levin: Obama has been FDR, Lincoln, Reagan and now Trayvon Martin (+video)

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On his Friday night radio program, conservative talk show host Mark Levin had some harsh criticism for President Barack Obama and his remarks on the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin…

“We have a president who is balkanizing the nation, as is his cabinet,” he continued. “This wasn’t about Barack Obama. This was a trial in a courtroom in Florida. And now all weekend long the question is going to be, ‘What did you think about what Obama said? It was good. It was bad.’ So suddenly it’s about Obama.

Obama had been Franklin Roosevelt. He’s been Abraham Lincoln. He’s been Ronald Reagan. And now he’s been Trayvon Martin. But he’s none of them. He didn’t live like Trayvon Martin, nor is he any of those three presidents. This president could have been a great president — policies aside — by his temperament, by what he said, by his respect for the American people. This president could have been a man that could have been admired. Instead, he is what he is.”

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Mark Levin Proposes Article V Constitutional Convention, Intended as End-Run Around Federal Tyranny

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[On his radio show this week, Mark] Levin previewed an argument under Article Five of the United States Constitution which expresses how the Constitution can be changed through the amendment process by using the traditional passage of a proposed amendment by two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; then on to the several states for ratification. Once three-fourths of the states have ratified the proposed amendment, the approved Amendment becomes part of our United States Constitution.

What Levin also said was that the States could also propose a convention to add a specific amendment or reject a current amendment by calling an Amendment Convention. This convention would have no bearing on the existing framework of the Constitution, but would only affect the addition or subtraction of an amendment at hand.

Levin reported that under Article V of the Constitution, two-thirds of the several states could form a convention on their own through actions initiated through their own state legislatures. Once an amendment is successfully proposed, it could be ratified by approval of three-fourths of the legislatures of the several states, and then imparted into the Constitution.

The Founders placed this alternative method of amending the Constitution as an end-around the possible tyranny of an all-powerful federal government. The Founders knew the federal leviathan could never be completely trusted with policing itself and therefore gave ultimate authority to the states to make changes when they deemed it necessary.

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Mark Levin Blasts Democrat Zimmerman Judge – a Jeb Bush Appointee – For Being “Way Out of Line!” (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTubeMark Levin, a constitutional law attorney, took real offense at “obnoxious and pathetic” Judge Debra Nelson for improperly questioning defendant George Zimmerman.

Levin hit the judge – a Jeb Bush appointee and reportedly a lifelong Democrat – for not only failing to allow the defendant’s last witness to be called prior to her inquiry of Zimmerman, but also in the way she did it.

For instance, she did not allow the attorney to state his objection, but cut him off and plowed forward with her questioning of Zimmerman.

Listen to Attorney Levin’s aggressive critique here:

Mark Levin Goes Off on Pro-Amnesty RINO’s Including Jeb Bush, Karl Rove, Others (+video)

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

By Jeff Poor. On his Friday radio show, conservative talker Mark Levin challenged support from for this current of immigration reform coming from prominent Republicans, particularly Jeb Bush and Karl Rove.

Levin, author of “Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America,” began his attack by arguing some members of the Republican Party make policy gestures without mentioning the U.S. Constitution.

“It amazes me how few Republicans in elected office actually talk about the Constitution,” Levin said. “They have no more respect for it, no more concern about its boundaries and limits than the left. That’s why I say they’re neo-statist.” Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Marco Rubio: We need to legalize immigrants so they can pay for border security

By Byron York. Why is it necessary to legalize the roughly 11 million currently-illegal immigrants in the U.S. before newly enhanced border security and internal enforcement measures are in place? Sen. Marco Rubio, the leading Republican on the Senate’s Gang of Eight, says part of the reason is that the federal government can’t afford to secure the border on its own and needs financial help from the immigrants themselves, in the form of fines paid when they are legalized.

Rubio made the statement during a radio interview after he voted against an amendment from Republican Sen. Charles Grassley that would have put off legalization until after the border is secure — a position supported by majorities of voters across the political spectrum. Host Andrea Tantaros asked Rubio why he opposed something that was important “to so many in the Republican party?”

Rubio’s first reason was that the U.S. has no other choice than to legalize the 11 million. Enhancing security first would take an estimated four years, and Rubio declared, “We cannot wait another four years with 11 million people living in this country illegally without knowing who they are or why they’re here.” Read more from this story HERE.