Greg Abbott has better things to do, or should

Gov. Greg Abbott is not the first Texas politician to call for amending the U.S. Constitution, only the latest.

In recent years, former Gov. Rick Perry and members of the Texas Legislature have suggested repealing the personal income tax, ending direct elections for U.S. senators, requiring a balanced federal budget and ending federal oversight of education or healthcare.

As recently as 1973, Texas leaders wanted to amend the Constitution to prevent public schools from reassigning students to achieve racial desegregation.

The theme is always the same: States good. Washington bad. It only takes 38 states to change America.

But the proposals always bog down in the process. In the 1970s, the Democratic idea of affirming equal rights for women stalled at 35 states and never passed. It is very difficult for Congress and 38 states to ever agree.

So calls for amending the Constitution are mostly political drops in a wishing well, and that includes Abbott’s Friday support for a constitutional convention.

Abbott’s purpose should be clear from the Texas Public Policy Foundation teaser promoting how his speech would “spark a national conversation.”

In the same week when Florida Republican Marco Rubio told a Dallas audience he supports a constitutional convention to require term limits and a balanced budget, Abbott one-upped him and burnished his national conservative credentials by endorsing nine amendments, most to weaken federal power and strengthen state authority.

The word sovereignty and the cry “states’ rights!” were invoked in the South’s ugly history to oppose the Civil Rights Act. Abbott invokes the same terms to endorse amendments that would have similar results.

For example, Abbott supports allowing state law to stand unless overturned by the Supreme Court with a seven-vote supermajority. Another idea would allow a two-thirds vote of states to reverse the court.

Other proposals would take Congress out of any decision that doesn’t involve crossing a state line and prohibit any federal rule that overrides state law.

The United States Constitution is not written to allow majority rule by voters, or states. The Constitution is written to protect the rights of all Americans and prevent what President John Adams feared as “the tyranny of the majority.”

Abbott’s far-fetched proposals may launch him into the national conversation as promised, but his time would be better spent on the needs of Texans.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Greg Abbott has better things to do, or should."