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This special episode of Liberty Solutions is a rebroadcast of the Unsafe Space show entitled “Inside the Convention of States with Keith Bessette”, published June 30 on the Unsafe Space YouTube channel. Unsafe Space Hosts Carter and Keri interview Keith about his former volunteer work with the Convention of States project. They discuss the underlying and undisclosed Christian nature of the business, the problems in working within the organization for a non-Christian, and how mixing religion with business leads to strife and failures. The original release YouTube video version of this Unsafe Space episode is available at https://youtu.be/ZjllrRqn9vkUnsafe Space Website: https://unsafespace.com The Liberty Solutions Podcast show main page to access all previous episodes is at https://libertysolutions.buzzsprout.com The Liberty Solutions YouTube channel has a variety of short videos covering various topics. A recent episode is at https://youtu.be/jBHkJHsBIl8

Ed Vidal spoke at the American Priorities Festival and Conference (AMP Fest) on why a Convention of States under Article V could help resolve some of the problems we face today. A Q&A session followed, where Ed addressed some common fears about a Convention and spoke with a VA citizen who had done a survey on the people's desire for term limits.The conference was held in October 2019 at the Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida. Ed Vidal is a Convention of States Action Regional Legislative Liaison and a District Captain, in Sunny Southern Florida, in the Miami area.

Today’s episode is on the National Debt and the Federal government's yearly deficits.  We have guest Nicholas Giordano, Professor of Political Science at Suffolk County Community College in NY, part of the SUNY system. Professor Giordano is a former Catastrophic Planning Lead for the New York State Office of Emergency Management. He teaches courses on American Government and World Politics/International Relations. He has appeared on Fox News, providing analysis on current issues and trends within government, politics, international relations, homeland security/emergency management, and social/cultural related issues.The current National Debt is either about $23T, or about $200T, depending on which accounting practices are used. The $200T figure includes unfunded liabilities, which only governments get away with ignoring.Deficits have been run each year by our central government's Congress and President regardless of which party in power. Evidently one clear broadly bi-partisan position in D.C. is that it is fine to borrow money from our grandchildren to pay for whatever they want today. The total National Debt has steadily climbed for many decades, with it doubling during all of the recent presidential terms. The debt per year is shown at the link below from 1916 to 2019, with 2020 and 2021 estimated, using data reported by the U.S. Treasury. This bill will eventually come due. What will happen to the US economy then? We don't know, but it won't be pretty. The current system is not sustainable and the central government's mainstream politicians continue to ignore it. One of the three topics in an Article V Convention for proposing Amendments being pursued by Convention of States Action is mandating fiscal responsibility on the central government. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution proposed and ratified by the individual States - without involving D.C. - may be the only way to stop Congress and the President from a ludicrous level of borrowing until our economy collapses. The founders foresaw situations such as this, where the problem is the Federal government. Congress and the President are unlikely to enact limitations on themselves that reduce their own power, and SCOTUS is fully on board the expansion of federal power. One way to deal with this without waiting for an economic collapse is to follow the Convention process under Article V.https://www.thebalance.com/national-debt-by-year-compared-to-gdp-and-major-events-3306287 Year      Debt          Debt/GDP 2020     est. $24T    106% 2019     $22.8T        106% 2018     $21.5T        105% 2017     $20.2T        103% 2016     $19.6T        104% Professor Giordano hosts the weekly "PAS Report" Podcast, available on standard podcast applications including Apple Podcast/iTunes. This show is recommended for in depth analysis of current events from a factual, historical, and Constitutional perspective. Nick's PAS Report does this without the drama, misrepresentation, and indoctrination common in legacy media today.

Keith discusses Congressional term limits with Philip Blumel in this episode. Philip is the President of U.S. Term Limits, an organization dedicated to promoting term limits for Congress via an Article V Convention for proposing Amendments. The discussion was recorded at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit 2018, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Florida, in December 2018. After the discussion took place a term limits Amendment bill was sponsored in the U.S. Senate by Senator Ted Cruz. A Senate Judiciary Committee Constitution subcommittee hearing was held on term limits with several guest speakers offering testimony. Clips of two of the people testifying before the Senate are included, with explanations of why Congressional term limits are desirable. 

This Independence Day celebration episode starts with a 2 minute group recitation of an abridged version of the Declaration of Independence. It was done using all original wording, skipping some phrases, to create a quick, easy to understand version intended to get across the essence of what the founders said on July 4, 1776. Two minutes of dedicated time and most people should understand the gist of it.The Declaration recital is followed by Keith discussing what the Declaration means, its history, why the founders dissolved all ties with the King of England in 1776, and its Natural Law justification. The episode closes with noting that some of the reasons the founders abolished their form of government and created a new one apply today. As the Declaration says, "let facts be submitted to a candid world". Does the Declaration's listed grievance "He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance" sound familiar?  Keith notes he doesn't like that either.The founders provided a mechanism for the people, through their States, to alter the form of government using Article V of the Constitution. Please see https://conventionofstates.com/?ref=32551 for how the people can return D.C. to the limited and expressly delegated roles the founders intended when they wrote the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson altered his form of government, and in doing so showed us how and why we should do so too. 

Special episode with Keith as a guest on the Unsafe Space show with host Carter Laren. We discussed the income tax, and explain why it is theft of rightfully owned property. The Constitutional implications are covered, including the 1895 Supreme Court majority opinion that income tax was unconstitutional, and the 16th Amendment when the States delegated the new power to impose income taxation. The history of the income tax is discussed for the first two short income taxes and the one imposed from 1913 through today. The biggest outlays the central government uses the tax money for is covered. We end with a way the people can end this theft of their lawfully owned property with an amendment to the Constitution using a Convention of the States held under Article V of the Constitution.

Trump's December 2018 Syria full withdraw order and the Middle East wars since George Bush Sr. are discussed with guest Eduardo Vidal. Ed is the co-host of the Concrete Conservatives talk show on WSQF FM Key Biscayne/Miami and online, and is the corporate lawyer for a software firm. We talk about the multitude of excuses used to conduct the war in Syria and touch on a few of the many Middle East wars the US has engaged in over the last two decades. The Constitution and legislation with which Congress unconstitutionally delegated their power to declare war to the President are covered. Keith rants a bit about the dismal failures of the many US interventions in the Middle East.  The US military is excellent when allowed to win a fight. But the track record of what happens next with installing new governments is dismal. A potential solution of a Constitution change proposed by the States in an Article V Convention for proposing Amendments is considered. An amendment could eliminate most future U.S. military actions in the Middle East by:(1) reminding the government that Congress is the only branch with the expressly delegated power to declare war, and (2) explicitly denying the President the power to send armed forces into battle without a Congressional declaration of war. Such an amendment falls under the Convention of States Action topic of limiting the power and jurisdiction of the Federal government, putting it back to what the founders intended. It also falls into the fiscal responsibility topic. The US military should not be world's police force, spending trillions of dollars protecting other countries. It should not overthrow other governments because DC politicians prefer some different form of government. Not our job, not what the founders wanted, and it is ludicrously expensive.

On this special edition we interview attendees at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit 2018 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Florida. 5000 mostly college and high school students were invited to this event. We met many young people actively engaged in promoting limited government and fiscal responsibility. Speakers at the event included Laura Ingram, Pete Hegseth, Dinesh D'Souza, Greg Gutfeld, Tucker Carlson, Sebastian Gorka, Jesse Watters, Mark Levin, Kimberly Gilfoile, Jordan Peterson, Dave Rubin, Kyle Kashuv, Anna Paulina, Donald Trump Jr., and others. Attendees interviewed and starting time for each: 1:20     Will Miller, student6:50     Jessica Ramirez, Student Programs Manager, Atlas Society 8:08     Eddy Neret, Student Journalist, Red Alert Politics11:48   Will, Penn State student, Penn State Republicans Secretary13:35   Marshal Hoffman, Cornell University student, civil engineering23:28   Tom Miller, Convention of States District Capitan FL D89, attorney 24:54   John Paul, Grand Opportunity USA, President & CEO34:21   Philip Blumel, President, U.S. Term Limits38:15   Dexter Taylor, TPUSA Urban Engagement Director43:07  12 Days of Christmas, TPUSA versionConvention of States Action was represented at the convention by:Keith Bessette   Liberty Solutions Host, State Content Writer, SMWNancy Suits       Florida State Communications DirectorEd Vidal             Attorney, WSQF FM radio co-host, COS supporter at largeThomas Miller    Attorney, District Captain FL D-89 Will Miller           Student

In this episode Keith Bessette appears as a guest on Carter Laren's Unsafe Space YouTube/Podcast show. We discuss a range of topics including a convention to propose amendments and the Convention Of States Project, birthright citizenship, the caravan "walking" through Mexico, immigration, where rights come from, the founder's intent, and individual State's authority over the federal government.

The October 2018 “USMCA” update of NAFTA is discussed with several guests. The new trade restrictions imposed by this so-called “free trade” agreement and the expected increase in automobile prices due to increased component and labor costs are covered. The need to stop the Federal Government from meddling with our economic activities and picking favored industries is clear. Keith Bessette hosts. Guests are Nancy Suits, Michelle LaFlamme, and Rodney Huckleberry, all with the Convention Of States Project.

Keith discusses Constitution Day, September 17.  Constitution Day is the anniversary of 9/17/1787, when the federal Constitution was signed by the state delegates in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. The day marks the completion of defining the expressly delegated roles of the central government, as assigned to it by the States. Following the signing the document was sent to every State’s legislative body for consideration and then ratification, creating our Union in its current form.  2004 Federal Public Law 108-447, Division J, Title 1, Section 111(b) requires the Constitution be taught each September 17 to every student in every school that receives Federal funding.  Keith guest taught the Constitution at a home school collaborative/private school. His experience is reported in this 23 minute podcast.

Keith discusses the right to keep and bear arms with Roland Demers. Roland is a tactical training and firearms instructor, and a criminal investigator. We cover the natural law basis of the right to bear arms and the second amendment’s recognition of this right, the Federal government’s lack of any expressly deligated authority to write laws on firearms, and the individual State’s authority. Practical considerations are discussed with experience and facts on murder rates vs. gun ownership rates and differences in outcome between States with their widely varying levels of infringement on our natural right to bear arms. The show ends with how a new US Constitutional amendment proposed by an Article V Convention of States can resolve the arguments over Federal firearms restrictions and make us all safer.

Keith discusses a trip to Key West, the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, and the federal government taking and keeping unconstitutional control of land throughout the union. He rambles on about his observations of the federal government’s intrusions into life seen on the trip. Key West is an interesting pro-Liberty town. A live and let live place. It seceded briefly from the US in 1982, forming the Conch Republic to protest US Border Patrol’s roadblock and treatment of all of the Florida keys as another nation. The federal government grabbed all control of the Dry Tortugas from Florida in 1992 (the westernmost group in the Florida Keys). Congress has legislated the legal uses of Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, including authorizing fish and wildlife to use the lake. Keith wonders why the federal government owns 48% of California, and pays only $40 million in lieu of property taxes based on their own definition of the land’s value.

The Liberty loving volunteers of Convention of States Florida recite the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States. Recorded in Orlando in the Spring of 2018.

This episode is a review of how the Supreme Court assigned itself so much power and what the people should do to reign it in. Several Court majority opinions that have significantly eroded liberty and unconstitutionally grabbed power are listed. The July 2018 retirement of Justice Kennedy is bounced against several points of view with recorded clips of Rachael Maddow, Dave Smith, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Neil Gorsuch, and KrisAnne Hall. The selection of new Justices has become far too important due to their own wide ranging definitions of their own power. Term limits and better restrictions on the court’s authority using constitutional amendments are covered.

Keith and Brandon review the timeline and legal issues behind the border crossing foreign nationals with minors in tow and the “family separation” issue. They discuss the root causes and what the people and their States can do about it. We can’t wait for D.C. to fix immigration - they never will. The people with their States can resolve this.