Article V, to be precise. The Republican Party, at this point, should be supported on this basis alone. If the 34 state threshold is reached, a Republican House Majority would aggregate the Resolutions and set a time and place for the Amendment Convention, as would a Republican Senate. If either body falls under Democratic control, Article V will have to be on hold, on the federal level.
When Trump crashes and burns, he may take the Senate with him, in which case Article V would be unavailable until after the 2018 election. Delaware rescinded last week (thanks, George Soros) so we’re back down to 28. Potential pickups (that is, states where Republicans control both chambers) are Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Virginia. All but Montana and Virginia have Republican governors. If those Governors could be convinced to call special sessions this summer, we could be up to 33 by the end of the summer. I think, at that point, Gov. Bevin of Kentucky could call his legislature into session, and the razor thin Democratic majority in the House would buckle, getting us to 34 this year. If necessary, a major drive in Montana could convince their legislature to call itself back into special session. That would require a media campaign costing a million dollars.
This is not something the BBA Task Force can pull off. We would need some real heavy hitters to push it. Like, for instance, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina. If they all joined together, they could get it done.
When Kasich withdrew today he touched on policy just once, when he said nothing was more important than getting a BBA. He’s right. These people all know it’s right. If they want to save this country it’s up to them. Once the reality of Trump sinks home, and the November electoral disaster is obvious to everyone, they people can be roused to action.
The wave I sensed forming in October of 2013 is as strong as ever. What I didn’t see was the complexity of the wave. It includes half the Democratic Party. They’re as pissed off at the Washington elites as we are, though for slightly different reasons. Everybody, right and left, can see the naked corruption at work.
I also didn’t foresee the various forms the wave manifested itself in, to wit, Trump, a demagogue. It shouldn’t be that surprising, when you think about it. People were even more pissed of than I realized, and they’ve settled on a vulgar celebrity as their champion, as predicted in Idiocracy. The media made him, and they will break him. It won’t be pretty, and by the end of it, with President Clinton, practically the whole country will be pissed off. The Arsonist, as I call him, will tear down as much as he can on his way to defeat. Yuk.
Since there is no good outcome, we’re heading further downhill. The economy will continue to stagnate. For all I know, the market may break. The case for optimism, and growth, is weak.
We’re still very much in a period of major political transition. The old order is going to fall. It’s unsustainable. We could go the way of Greece and Venezuela, but I doubt it. We still have the Constitution, with the emergency brake of Article V.
Ted Cruz wanted to break the Washington cartel, but it was too strong for him. It may be too strong for any constitutional conservative. It may be that the only way to break it is with Article V.
In the two and a half years I’ve been working on Article V, I’ve always been amazed by the lack of financial support we’ve received, and by the amount of education that needs to be done. If we had the money we could do the education, and get it done. I figure we could do it with about half of what Bush spent attacking Rubio. But all the right wing billionaires don’t seem to be really interested in breaking the Washington cartel. They sure as hell weren’t with Cruz, and don’t tell me it’s his personality. He was a threat to everybody who games the system to enrich themselves.
I got involved in the Presidential campaign, at first, to promote Article V. When Cruz adopted the issue of the transfer of federal lands, around three months ago, I got totally invested in his campaign. That’s over. It’s back to Article V.
I just hope it’s not too late.
reaganproject.com 