I have enclosed two very important petitions and I’m asking you to sign them right way.
My organization, the American Policy Center (APC), is in the thick of a battle to stop a dangerous call for a Constitutional Convention – or a “Con Con” as it’s called.
I urgently need your help to slam the door on this insanity once and for all.
Let me explain.
More and more state legislatures are considering resolutions to call for a Con Con in order to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment.
These resolutions are coming from conservative Republicans.
They are not part of some diabolical left wing conspiracy.
These legislators are genuinely concerned with the spending orgy taking place in Washington, DC over the bailouts and other connected programs. They simply want to do something to stop it.
I certainly understand and agree with their concerns.
So, why am I so opposed to a Con Con?
Because I believe that a Con Con would be used as a tool to totally destroy our precious Constitution – not improve it.
Here’s why.
What these legislators don’t seem to understand is that there is no way to control what is discussed at a Con Con once it is called by Congress.
No way at all. Period.
Article V of the Constitution does not provide answers to ANY of these questions:
Who would choose the delegates?
What qualifications must they have to be delegates?
What powers would the delegates have?
No one knows the answers to the above questions until Congress decides how to proceed!
The fact is, once 34 states (two thirds) petition Congress to convene a Constitutional Convention, the matter is completely out of the States’ hands.
The states cannot control the debate! To only discuss one issue like a balanced budget amendment – it’s simply impossible.
Once the 34 states call for a Con Con, the Congress is obligated to call for the Convention. Once Congress acts, the states have no more say in the matter.
Congress decides. That means Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
Congress would decide HOW delegates would be chosen.
Maybe Congress would let the state governor choose the delegates. Maybe it would let the state legislatures choose? Maybe delegates would be chosen by a special blue ribbon panel?
Or maybe by a vote of the people. A plebiscite. Who could then vote in such a plebiscite? All eligible voters? Or just Taxpayers? (don’t bet on it.)
Or would we possibly – in the interest of “enfranchisement” allow all citizens and “undocumented workers” to vote in this “special election.”
I can hear that argument now from the news media – all in the name of “inclusion” and fairness. You’ve heard those outrageous arguments in every debate.
Congress would decide the answers to all of these issues.
And what would be the qualifications for delegates?
Should they all be lawyers?
Constitutional scholars?
“Proportional” representation?
Selected members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)?
There are no formal answers to any of these questions. All of these things would only be answered after the 34th state voted for a Con Con resolution and put the mechanism in operation in Congress..
Again, Congress would decide!
Do you want to risk our Constitution on such uncertainty? Do you want to make it an open target to every American-hating special interest group?
I don’t. And that’s why I am rushing into action to stop it.
But there is more to this battle.
Once the delegates are chosen, they become “super delegates” answerable to no one – not even to Congress.
The fact is, once chosen, the Delegates to a Con Con become the most powerful force in the nation. Congress can’t tell them what to do. The President can’t tell them how to act.
They can enter the convention, close and lock the doors, and meet in complete secrecy and do whatever they want.
That’s exactly what happened at the first and ONLY Con Con in 1787.
A brief history lesson:
The states in 1787 were operating under the Articles of Confederation – a very loose association of the sovereign states.
But they were having trouble dealing with interstate commerce among the states. So they decided to hold a convention to simply discuss how to address that issue.
Ten of the eleven states that were sending delegates specifically instructed their delegations to discuss nothing more than the commerce issue.
Congress, in allowing the meeting to commence, sent a strongly worded resolution to the delegates saying the meeting was limited to “the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. “
But once the delegates gathered at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, they quickly closed and locked the doors and met in secret for a month, telling no one what they were doing.
When they were finished, they had created a completely new government unlike any before seen in the history of man.
We were lucky then. We had great patriots and brilliant minds like Ben Franklin, James Madison and George Washington – men dedicated to the very spirit of liberty, as outlined in The Declaration of Independence.
But, it was completely against the instructions of their states and their U.S. Congress.
And today we have Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barack Obama and hordes of leaders who believe the Constitution is an antiquated document, written by dead slave owners lacking in “social justice.”
A Constitution Convention would simply allow these people to put the Constitution on an operating table, take out their scalpels, and cut to shreds the greatest governing document in the world.
And there is more.
Many of the proponents of a Con Con have attacked my opposition, saying it is overblown.
They say that no matter what comes out of the Convention, the Constitution says that two thirds of the states still have to ratify it in order to allow the changes. So we are safe!
Frankly they are seriously deluded.
First of all, given the history we have had in fighting battles like the Equal Rights Amendment in recent times, we’ve seen evil forces change the rules in the middle of the fight; we’ve seen courts make outrageous rulings – all to illegally enforce ratification that a majority of the people actually opposed.
Moreover, I want to remind you that just a year ago 75% of the American people were opposed to Obamacare – yet Congress passed it anyway.
So why would we trust that we can stop bad things from happening to the Constitution after a Con Con.
And there is this little tidbit of history that many people don’t know.
Under the Articles of Confederation, before any changes could be made to that document, 100% of the states were required to ratify the changes. That was the law of the land.
But, when the new constitution was presented to the states, somehow, magically, only three fourths of the states were needed to ratify it.
How could that be?
In short, Article VII of the new Constitution was used to guide its ratification – BEFORE it was even law of the land.
That is now a historic precedent that can be used by a new Con Con.
That means that a new Con Con could write a completely new government that no longer needs to be ratified by ANYONE. The Con Con could produce a new government that is a compete dictatorship.
So much for the argument that the Constitution will protect us.
These are the reasons why I’m working so hard to stop the Con Con.
But, in spite of these sound historic arguments against it, there is a very strong effort growing in conservative Republican circles to push for more Con Con resolutions.
We defeated it in Ohio – twice. And just recently in Virginia. But many other states are discussing the possibility.
This is a growing threat and we must stop it now – before it’s too late.
I urgently need you to take two immediate actions.
First, I have enclosed two petitions.
One is to the speaker of your state’s House of Representatives.
The other is to the head of your state’s Senate.
Each petition urges your state to take action.
If they have not passed a Con Con resolution, then the petition urges them not to. If the state has already passed a Con Con resolution on the balanced budget issue, then the petitions urge them to vote to rescind it.
And if we can warn other states not to even consider a Con Con resolution, then we can prevent the backers of this insanity from gaining even one more state. We can stop this.
So, today, please sign both petitions as quickly as possible. I will write my own letter, which will be signed by several organizations, to include with your petition (and thousands more from other loyal Americans) to each state legislative leader.
Second, I urgently need your financial support to lead this battle. Along with your signed petitions, please enclose your contribution to APC for $25 or even $35, $50 or as much as $100, or more if you can.
APC is a major leader in this effort. Our Sledgehammer Action Alert has been used to put the spot light on this very urgent issue. It was used most effectively in APC’s successful fight to stop the Con Con resolution In Ohio.
On that day we not only alerted others to join our fight, but be were able to generate hundreds of calls and e-mails in the offices of the Ohio legislators, even as the hearing was going on.
The result was that the legislature immediately cancelled a scheduled vote on the Con Con resolution — and then later dropped the whole idea.
Now we have to fight in more states. We must be ready. That’s why your contribution is so vital.
APC has been leading a very successful battle to stop the UN’s Agenda 21. In fact, I am the recognized national leader in that vital fight
But this Con Con insanity must be stopped – now. We must poison the issue so no legislator will dare touch it in any state.
That can only be done by fighting with full force – as we did in Ohio.
I hope I can count on you to help me win this vital battle to stop a very ill- advised Constitutional Convention.
Sincerely,
Tom DeWeese President
P.S. There is a massive lobbying campaign being waged by those who are pushing for a Con Con. They are powerful and heavily funded. We need to stand in opposition to stop the growing number of Con Con resolutions being introduced in state legislatures across the nation. It is terrifying to think how a Con Con will be used to put our Constitution on an operating table to be cut to shreds. Please help me stop it.
P.P.S. Click here to view a detailed issue paper, prepared by the Ohio-based Institute for Principled Policy, constitutional scholars who carefully detail the reasons why we must stop the Con Con. This is a must read for everyone who wants to stop it.
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