If you want a funny or original Shiz diary that just slacks off and asks people to post songs and videos, so’s we can take our collective minds off The Orange Menace currently residing in the White House, sadly — this is not even remotely that.
One of my Wisconsin friends on Facebook posted a link to this absolutely terrible shit last week, and it’s taken me several days and many hours of digging and reading to come to terms with what this means, not only for residents of my Walker-Asshole state, but for the country as a whole:
Republican legislators want to make Wisconsin the 29th state to call for a convention to add a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, raising concerns among Democrats that the state could help open the door to ultra-conservative proposals that would drastically reshape the nation’s guiding document.
Wisconsin Republicans are calling for a Constitutional Convention. This is the Koch brothers on acid. Essentially, every fever dream Ayn Randian-type Republicans want to enact could come true if, indeed, a Constitutional Convention is called within the next two years.
The United States just needs five more states to agree to this disgustingly egregious “convention”. Anything you think you know about civil rights and liberties will go right out the window, and Republicans will have our nation’s governing document to back them. This “balanced budget” bullshit just means that those douchebags will cut everything that doesn’t help either themselves or the rich. And, when I say “everything”, I mean EVERYTHING!
Imagine Voldemort and Steve Bannon wanting to tear down the “administrative state”, but needing no bother of Congress to enact it long-term. They wouldn’t even need Executive Orders; they could just do whatever they want when they want, no prob, Bob. It’s, quite literally, progressives’ Nightmare Scenario Come True.
More from the Wisconsin State Journal article:
Article V of the U.S. Constitution lays out two paths for amending the document. The U.S. House and Senate, by a two-thirds vote of each chamber, can refer an amendment to the states. Two-thirds of state legislatures, or 34 states, also can request that Congress call a convention of the states. Both methods require at least 38 states to ratify an amendment before it can take effect.
The state convention process has never been used but talk of using one to ratify a balanced budget amendment has been swirling among conservatives for years. Twenty-eight states have called for a convention to adopt a balanced budget amendment. The November election left the GOP in control of 33 legislatures, leaving them just one state short of being able to force a convention.
….
!!!!!
I KNOW!
I am sure this will come as no surprise to anyone, but ALEC is funding the push for the Constitutional Convention, those motherfuckers:
(Chris) Kapenga (R- Delafield) is a long-time ALEC member and ALEC is so gung-ho about the constitutional convention idea that it has multiple "model bills" pushing the idea and a "how-to" manual on how to achieve it. ALEC hosts workshops and events for several pro-convention groups, including the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force. And it promotes a much broader effort to re-write the Constitution by Citizens for Self Governance. That group is led by "Tea Party Patriots" co-founder Mark Meckler and Wisconsin dark-money man Eric O'Keefe.
The only hope I take here, aside from The Resistance, is that you can’t tell any state delegates “I’m The Boss Of You!” without blowback. See Bannon, Stephen K., yesterday. (LOL! I’m still laughing about that, it was classic.) Back to the TruthOut article:
Experts at the CBPP (Center for Budget and Policy Priorities) have concluded that any convention call, no matter how narrowly written, could result in a "runaway" convention. Why? Because the Constitution doesn't provide any guidance or constraints on how a convention would operate once called. State politicians or Congress could write their own agenda and rules about the way delegates are chosen, the number of delegates allowed from each state, and whether or not a supermajority is required to approve amendments. Once in the room, delegates to a convention can ignore the limits that Kapenga and friends have attempted to place on them.
The fact that not even the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia (!) was a fan of potential Constitutional Conventions should tell you, right there, that it’s not exactly a great idea. But apparently, the ALEC dickheads tried this shit recently in Idaho, and it didn’t exactly go as expected, even in a state as red as Idaho. On March 1, 2017, it was defeated 11-24. HA! :P
I don’t know what to do here, at least in terms of action and advocacy. I can call all the Wisconsin state legislators I want, but I’m fairly positive this is going to pass in Cheddarland regardless. :/ The vote is on March 28th.
And if ALEC and the Koch brothers and the Ayn Randians get five more state houses to go along, before 2018?
I shudder to even think.
What I DO know, however, is that Democrats cannot afford to lose any more than the 1000 legislative seats they have lost since 2008. And gaining back a few of those couldn’t hurt, either.