Hawkeye Reporter

This time of year finds me watching plenty of committee hearings and floor debates in state legislatures across the nation. And while I see glimpses of passion, statesmanship, and standing on principle, I also see discouraging symptoms of a political epidemic that seems to afflict conservatives, in particular. 

It’s the conviction that our national doom is inevitable, and that no one can be trusted to act wisely or in the nation’s best interest. It’s the attitude of “hunker down and defend” instead of “move forward to improve.” It’s conspiracy theory upon conspiracy theory.

In short, it’s bunker politics. 

Bunker politics withdraws from our society’s messes instead of engaging them. Bunker politics believes every election is rigged, every political process will be hijacked, and every court will fail to provide justice. Bunker politics hints at “nullification,” secession, and even armed conflict. 

On the other hand, Convention of States Action is working to implement a meaningful solution to the problems that ail our federal system. We aim to bring about the nation’s first convention for proposing amendments. 

It’s a process gifted to the state legislatures in Article V of the Constitution. It gives the states the same power to propose amendments as Congress has, because the Founders knew that the states might need that kind of “check” if the federal government started to overstep its bounds.

Using this process, the states can reverse bad Supreme Court precedents and put Congress back in its box. They can force Congress to stop its reckless spending. They can end the federal stranglehold on education, the environment, and small business. 

The process is a meeting of the states, through their own chosen delegations, to propose amendments on the limited agenda agreed to in advance by 34 states. On the agenda already agreed to by 19 states: imposing fiscal restraint, limiting federal power and jurisdiction, and setting term limits for federal officials.

But those who deal in bunker politics can’t stomach the idea that there is actually something we can do to repair our broken federal structure. So instead of putting their energy into the common-sense solution contained in our Constitution, they put their energy into stopping it. Opponent Tamara Scott, host of The Tamara Scott Show, and The John Birch Society don’t seem to mind that their bedfellows are groups who actually want a bigger federal government. So they stand with Common Cause, The League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood, and the Sierra Club.

They claim to love the Constitution so much, that they abhor the idea of amending it. Nevermind that through amendments we have protected freedom of religious exercise, abolished slavery, and given women the right to vote. Nevermind that the very process they so vehemently opposed is part of our beloved Constitution. They deal in emotion rather than reason, fear rather than faith.

At the end of the day, bunker politicians end up in the pathetic position of defending the status quo they don’t want. They complain about the national debt, they bemoan federal control of virtually all public policy, but they won’t use the one constitutional tool given to them to actually fix the problem.

Some might defend this posture as a hallmark of conservatism. “Conservatives don’t like change,” they say. I say they’re wrong. Or at least they’re describing a brand of conservatism that I don’t want any part of. Conservatism is about conserving what is good, true, and beautiful. In today’s America, that requires plenty of change.

The good news is, our Founding Fathers anticipated all of this, because they knew the natural tendencies of mankind. So they gave us a constitutional system fitted with all the processes needed to keep it healthy. If we choose to cower in fear and turn our backs on one of those processes–the convention of the states for proposing amendments–we shouldn’t be surprised to be stuck in this mess.

Americans who have the courage to keep working toward reform, to engage instead of retreat, need to step up. Bunker politics has no place among a self-governing people, and it is unbecoming of any public official who would deign to lead us.

Rita Peters is the senior vice president for legislative affairs for Convention of States Action.