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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsConvention of the States: Is a billionaire-funded coup to rewrite the Constitution on the verge of
Last edited Sat Mar 25, 2017, 08:47 PM - Edit history (1)
Happening
JACOB SUGARMAN, ALTERNET at Salon
http://www.salon.com/2017/03/25/convention-of-the-states-is-a-billionaire-funded-coup-to-rewrite-the-constitution-on-the-verge-of-happening_partner/
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All eyes were fixed on Capitol Hill as Republicans attempted to pass an American Health Care Bill that ultimately failed. The recklessness of the partys leadership cant be overstated 14 million Americans insurance and countless essential health benefits hung in the balance and yet a meeting scheduled next week in the Wisconsin legislature may possess even more terrifying ramifications for the future of the country.
According to Wisconsin.gov, Republican lawmakers will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, March 28, to determine whether Wisconsin will call for a constitutional convention. While a subject of legal debate, changes to Americas governing document can be made in one of three ways: Three-quarters of the states can ratify an amendment that Congress has passed with supermajorities in both houses; three-quarters of the states, with majority votes in each, can bypass Congress by invoking Article 5 to approve an amendment; or two thirds of the states can simply use Article 5 to call a Convention of the States and rewrite the document as they see fit (three-quarters of the states would then need to approve their changes).
A Convention of the States has never been invoked before, but Republicans and Koch-backed organizations like Citizens for Self-Governance have been salivating over the possibility for years, even holding dress rehearsals in Washington, D.C., with representatives from across the country. With the federal deficit presently hovering just below $20 trillion, their ostensible plan is to add a balanced budget amendment. This alone would likely shred the countrys meager social safety net, but as Assembly Minority Leader and Kenosha Democrat Peter Barca warns the Wisconsin State Journal, a constitutional convention could put citizens very rights up for grabs.
Scot Ross, executive director of liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, puts it more bluntly: The balanced budget talk is a fig leaf to let them change America into a right-wing alternative universe.
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msongs
(67,433 posts)sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)By a 3/4 vote, I believe.
And given the control of statehouses and the activism we've seen, I hope this would not happen.
AwakeAtLast
(14,133 posts)If it's anything like our last election, there's your answer.