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California joins Vermont in calling for an Article V Convention (Original Post) radiclib Jun 2014 OP
bad move sabbat hunter Jun 2014 #1
You really think so? radiclib Jun 2014 #2
Exactly NCcoast Jun 2014 #3
Absofrieakenlutely!!! I cannot express enough how important this is! Dustlawyer Jun 2014 #4
Thank you! radiclib Jun 2014 #5
I was wondering when you'd make it to the party NCcoast Jun 2014 #9
Gracias mi amigo! It is wonderful just to see some movement, much less in such a big Dustlawyer Jun 2014 #14
how many state legislatures sabbat hunter Jun 2014 #15
Sadly, one of the worst Presidents in US history was shrewd enough merrily Jun 2014 #16
This is what Paul Ryan promised they'd do in 2012 with enough red state legislatures. freshwest Jun 2014 #7
And so the Long imthevicar Jun 2014 #6
Probably just a symbolic move, but a new convention would be very risky bluestateguy Jun 2014 #8
K&R - proud of Vermont and California Iwillnevergiveup Jun 2014 #10
I have an idea, let's give the radical right exactly what they want. longship Jun 2014 #11
"We could lose the first amendment"?? radiclib Jun 2014 #12
A constitution convention is what the radical right has been wanting for some time. longship Jun 2014 #17
Isn't this about fighting Citizens United? I don't understand how that translates into mother earth Jun 2014 #13
Fearmongering oldbitty Jun 2014 #18
Thanks, and welcome to DU! radiclib Jun 2014 #19
LOL oldbitty Jun 2014 #21
Absolutely. nt mother earth Jun 2014 #20

sabbat hunter

(6,825 posts)
1. bad move
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 08:37 PM
Jun 2014

when you get a constitutional convention, ANY amendment can get passed. So if the teabaggers can pack enough states, they can do things like put a constitutional amendment in to ban gay marriage, make Christianity the official religion of the US, etc.

radiclib

(1,811 posts)
2. You really think so?
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 08:48 PM
Jun 2014

ANY amendment? Three quarters of the states? Wildly unpopular insane ideas? Really?
If there's even a sliver of a chance of that then we've lost the country already.
Let's just keep trying to get a pure and enlightened supermajority of lawmakers elected, shall we? Or keep praying for the Supreme Court to do the right thing. Good luck with that.

NCcoast

(478 posts)
3. Exactly
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 09:00 PM
Jun 2014

Three quarters of the states are not going to ratify some radical bit of Tea Party nonsense. And I'll be damned if I'm going to just sit around and watch the country sinking future into corruption. At least let's have a fight. I think the lunatic fringe is over hyped and over due for being put in their place.

Dustlawyer

(10,493 posts)
4. Absofrieakenlutely!!! I cannot express enough how important this is!
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 10:09 PM
Jun 2014

Our tolerance of legalized bribery has allowed the rich and powerful to run and ruin our country. The majority of the major problems in this country stem directly from this corruption of our electoral process. Our once great country has fallen behind in almost every important, positive category. We lead in almost all of the negative categories such as incarceration of it's citizens, wealth disparity, education, infrastructure... There was a time when America would have been the country leading with the fast bullet trains, alternative energy, education and so on, but special interests have had the ear of politicians, not the people they purport to represent.
If we are to get things back on track we have to get out and fight for it! Not with guns and soldiers, but with armies of committed citizens willing to put their own boots on the ground to march, protest, and raise awareness of what is going on and what can be done about it. This should be an issue that both Democrats and Republicans can get behind.

Dustlawyer

(10,493 posts)
14. Gracias mi amigo! It is wonderful just to see some movement, much less in such a big
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 08:13 AM
Jun 2014

way! Has the MSM decided to cover any of this yet (or at all)? Curious how they will paint it, though I am sure I won't like much of it.
I have been trying to set up my 2nd career starting a solar energy company (sales and installation of panels) and I am still worried the state (Texas, why i am worried) and Feds will throw more hurdles in my way much like pot growers who are told to go ahead, then they bust them. The corruption of the government has had me worried and will for quite some time even if this is successful.
I started pushing this issue way before I decided to go solar so I hope everyone understands it is not through naked self interest that I have been doing so (don't want to see my naked interest, trust me). I made a connection yesterday that may allow my solar idea to become more than an idea for me and at the same time I see this come through. Crazy timing!
I will continue to bug everyone here and on the Discussionist regarding Publicly Funded Elections and Complete Campaign Finance Reform (CCFR). It does concern me that I have not heard those words out of the Wolf-PAC.com crowd. I can see this only going half way or so and not really solving the problem. The Big Money will never stop trying to increase it's power so we have to go all the way. Publicly Funded Elections will help to assure this. That is also why I throw the word "Complete" in front of campaign finance reform. We have all seen the BS measures they do in order to get in front of the cameras and say they "did it!" Thanks again!

sabbat hunter

(6,825 posts)
15. how many state legislatures
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 08:27 AM
Jun 2014

are in the hands of the GOP? There might be enough to pass some pretty spectacularly stupid amendments if we have a constitutional amendment..

merrily

(45,251 posts)
16. Sadly, one of the worst Presidents in US history was shrewd enough
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 09:09 AM
Jun 2014

to nominate some relatively young Justices, including for Chief (of his advisors were).

And his Poppy picked one of the most partisan and deceitful Justices, Scalia, plus Thomas, who usually votes with Scalia. Souter was by far the best of the Bush Crime Family batch, but he wasn't interested in staying on the bench a long time. At least he was sane and decent enough to wait until Dimson left office

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
7. This is what Paul Ryan promised they'd do in 2012 with enough red state legislatures.
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 10:43 PM
Jun 2014

Last edited Mon Jun 23, 2014, 11:33 PM - Edit history (1)

The Koch brothers will write the new Constitution.

Bernie Sanders (VT) should explain why they won't use this to enact their platform:

BERNIE SANDERS Uncovers 1980 Koch Agenda- "What Do the Koch Brothers Want?"

What else do the Koch brothers want?


In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980.

Let’s take a look at the 1980 Libertarian Party platform.

Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:

“We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”
“We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
“We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”
“We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”
“We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”
“We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”
“We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”
“We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”
“As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”
“We support repeal of all law which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”
“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”
“We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”
“We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”
“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
“We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”
“We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”
“We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”
“We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”
“We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”
“We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”
“We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”
“We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”
“We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”
“We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”

In other words, the agenda of the Koch brothers is not only to defund Obamacare. The agenda of the Koch brothers is to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the most vulnerable in this country...

Tomorrow it will be Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, repealing the minimum wage. It seems to me that the Koch brothers will not be content until they get everything they believe they are entitled to.

Our great nation can no longer be hijacked by right-wing billionaires like the Koch brothers.

For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, for the sake of our economy, we have got to let democracy prevail.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers

http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a7980koch

to kpete:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298

The people who drank the Koch-aid are voting in people to do what the Koch brothers want for America. There are no opposing voices as they have been bought or closed down by media owners. We have been swimming against the tide, and to those who have listened to and believe the paid choruses of Alex Jones, Glenn Beck, FNN, RW religionists, television and radio, see us as singing out of tune with their choir. It's been every effective in causing Democrats to stay out of politics.

bluestateguy

(44,173 posts)
8. Probably just a symbolic move, but a new convention would be very risky
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 11:32 PM
Jun 2014

Especially if the convention were to be taken over by teabaggers, Christian fundies and Ayn Randians.

Iwillnevergiveup

(9,298 posts)
10. K&R - proud of Vermont and California
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 01:15 AM
Jun 2014

It has to start somewhere. I hadn't realized, as Senator Jackson pointed out, that corporations originally had a 7-year lifespan (at about 6:42).

longship

(40,416 posts)
11. I have an idea, let's give the radical right exactly what they want.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 03:37 AM
Jun 2014

That's what this is.

Most importantly, we could lose the first amendment.

The question is... How many state legislatures are in the hands of the GOP? So, is this a wise thing to do?

My answer is simple... Nope!!

radiclib

(1,811 posts)
12. "We could lose the first amendment"??
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 06:42 AM
Jun 2014

Wow. Just wow.
I have an idea, too. Let's all lock our doors and cower under our beds.

longship

(40,416 posts)
17. A constitution convention is what the radical right has been wanting for some time.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:36 AM
Jun 2014

You know, those nice folks who claim that this is a Christian country. And BTW, guess which party controls most of the state legislatures.

So, go ahead and bang your head.

mother earth

(6,002 posts)
13. Isn't this about fighting Citizens United? I don't understand how that translates into
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 08:01 AM
Jun 2014

something we should fear.

I applaud CA and VT.

oldbitty

(27 posts)
18. Fearmongering
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 12:35 PM
Jun 2014

Don't listen to it. Read the resolutions being put forward in your state's legislative process. They're calling for conventions limited to addressing private funding for public elections, specifically to undo the damage created by Citizen's United. Limited conventions. It's also been noted that over the course of history, there were 133 state conventions, not one of them ever led to a runaway convention.

I'm with those who see how important it is to forge ahead with this and make it happen. This country is doomed waiting for Congress to fix this. Their careers depend on not fixing it.

And I commend Dick Durbin for co-sponsoring a proposal to add a 28th amendment to the constitution for this same purpose.

There is another PAC working toward the same end by raising money to run candidates against the incumbents who won't agree to adding this amendment as part of their platform. Their goal is to raise $6 million by the end of this month. If they achieve the goal, they'll get matching funds to run 5 or 6 candidates.

If we join with them and the Wolf PACs in getting this done, it WILL get done. There is no other way. We can sit around twiddling thumbs and complaining, or we can get to work.

radiclib

(1,811 posts)
19. Thanks, and welcome to DU!
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 05:20 PM
Jun 2014

I never thought I'd need to say this, but we need more sane folks around here.

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