Its easy, with so many potential scandals swirling around the White House at an hourly rate, to forget that our current situation is caused by a party, not a man. We are where we are right now because one of our country’s two main parties decided to go the route of corruption and immorality. Gerrymandering, voter ID laws, deeply corrupt business deals from Republican governors’ office (Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker, for example, is up to his eyeballs in corrupt business deals, like those profiled in the John Doe case agaist him (see the The Guardian newspaper for great coverage)), decisions to slash education and health spending and expansions, and the violent war against immigrants and African American people and cities, are just a few of their lines of attack. They have been beolden to outside money and organizations like ALEC for quite a while now.
I live in Wisconsin, and I am surprised by very little that elected members of this party do anymore. But this email, which I recently received from my local union, shocked even me:
Dear AFT Wisconsin Member,
On Wednesday, the legislature is taking a dangerous and unprecedented step. They will be voting on a legislative package consisting of one bill and two resolutions that together call for a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the U.S. Constitution (AJR 20, AJR 21, & AB 165).
Call your representatives NOW and urge them to VOTE NO on a Constitutional Convention! Enter your address here to find your lawmaker’s contact info.
This legislation is part of a national effort by right-wing groups such as ALEC and the Koch Brothers to severely limit our nation's ability to invest in the country's future and to protect and grow the opportunities available to all Americans. If passed, this bill would grant sole authority to three Republican lawmakers (Rep Vos, Senator Roth, and Governor Walker) to appoint representatives from Wisconsin to attend the convention. Once there, there are no limits on what can be proposed. This grossly undemocratic and unprecedented move is an attempt to allow special interests to mold a constitution that works for them--not one that works for the people.
Wisconsin must not become yet another state to succumb entirely to the special interests of wealthy and connected lobbyists. Click here to call your representatives NOW and urge them to VOTE NO!
That’s right: the call for state-level votes to trigger a Constitutional Convention is upon us. As Robert Greenstein explained in a 2014 Washington Post article (yup, this right-wing push has been going on for a while):
A dangerous proposal is circulating in states across the country that could widen political divisions and jeopardize cherished rights and freedoms. The push is coming primarily from well-organized, arch-conservative groups seeking to capitalize on the decline in public trust in government to limit the federal government’s role and spending powers. And the method they prefer is a constitutional convention — the first since the 1787 conclave that produced the U.S. Constitution.
Under the Constitution, if two-thirds of state legislatures call for a convention to amend it, one must be convened. Some of those pushing for a convention say that 24 of the needed 34 legislatures have approved such resolutions. Advocates of a convention have targeted more than a dozen other states and are developing lobbying campaigns to push for such resolutions there.
The implications are enormous. At stake, potentially, are the freedoms we take for granted under the Bill of Rights; the powers of the president, Congress and the courts; and the policies the government can or cannot pursue. Conventioneers could alter absolutely anything about the way the United States is governed.
If this new push to get to 34 states is happening in Wisconsin, its happening (or about to happen) across the country, where Republicans currently control 32 legislatures, 17 with veto-proof majorities: www.dailykos.com/...
A Constitutional Convention may seem a long shot, but give credit where credit is due—these guys know how to get shit done. And they are moving in on the Constitution. If they manage to call a Constitutional Convention, you can be absolutely sure that our capacity to participate in a free and fair democracy (however flawed it may currently be) will simply be over. So, however weird it seems, this is a moment for progressives, liberals, Democrats, however you identify, to become the standard-bearers for our Constitution and both organize together and fight like hell, and reach out to those conservatives who should be horrified by this effort. Traditional conservatives, who natter on about the importance of preserving the “original meaning” of the Constitution should be upset about this call (though, hey, they seem to have a remarkable capacity to forget to be upset over Republican efforts to undermine central conservative tenets). Many evangelical groups, who regularly liken the Constitution to the bible, should be extremely upset at the thought of it being rewritten (but, see parentheses above, and remember that they can be promised a pro-life rewrite). And conservatives or Republican who recognize that a Constitutional Convention might really, truly result in a civil war (you really think California is going to put up with this?) might be potential allies in this cause. We’re heading down a rabbit hole, folks: its time to suit up and make strange bedfellows in a state-by-state fight for the soul of this country. That sounds ridiculously hyperbolic, but unfortunately, its warranted right now.