Month: December 2013

On a cc (conference call) with Scott, Dave and three Representatives from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Jim Stalzer, Manny Steele, and the senior spokesman, Hal Wick.  Hal had informed me, in an earlier 6:00 a.m. call, that he had come within two votes of getting elected Mayor of Sioux Falls recently.   Hal explained that the Tea Party had two wings in South Dakota, at either end.  Sioux Falls in the east and Rapid City (or Rapid) in the west.  We’ve got the east end covered since its leader is his brother in law.

We agreed to bring in the I Am American crew, around Jan.6th.  In my earlier call with Hal, I had agreed to spend the week of January 20th in South Dakota, doing talk radio in Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Yankton, 90 miles to its south.  I would drive from Sioux Falls to Pierre, lobby for a couple days, then drive to Rapid City.  I’ll need to a pay a $40 fee to be a lobbyist, which can be done online.

While in Pierre (population: 15,000) I hope to meet as many as possible of the 35 Senators and 70 Representatives.  The first night I will attend Hal’s ALEC reception for legislators, lobbyists, and guests.  The following night I will host a dinner for Hal, Manny, Jim, and whoever they invite.

We have supermajorities in both Houses, all the leadership is on board, (except for the House Majority Leader, who Hal believes will not be a problem).  Our opposition, the John Birch Society and Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum, doesn’t seem as well organized.  Last year we were defeated on the floor, apparently because of last minute lobbying by two elderly women lobbyists.  One of them is unwell, so I think we’re O. K. in South Dakota.

Had nice talks with Steve Elzinga, a staffer for Sen. Ferrioli, and Scott Jorgensen, Rep. McLane.  They understood what I was talking about, and were supportive.  Steve’s a former ALEC staffer, and gave me three additional talk shows to target, in addition to the all-powerful Lars Larson.  I followed up with an email.

As I brainstormed how I was going to get on these shows, I realized it wasn’t going to be easy.  On my show in Alaska, people would just call me up, and if they sounded interesting I’d book them.  Not going to work with Larson and people like him.

I’m going to call them back tomorrow, and request that they talk to their bosses and acquaint them with what I’m doing.  If they like it (and they should; I’m trying to help get them in the majority) I’m going to ask them to get through to Larson and the others and see if he’ll book me.  Otherwise I’m going to have to get creative in order to get an appearance.

Called staffers in Washington House and Minnesota House and Senate.  Did not get through, but sent emails explaining what I’m up to.  I’ll call again tomorrow, and call the Kentucky House and Maine House and Senate as well.  Based on today’s experience in Oregon, if I can make my pitch over the phone it goes over well.  And, at the moment, the most realistic chance I’ve got at getting on the shows I want to get on is through an introduction by House and/or Senate Minority leaders.

Did learn that the 2010 election did produce a tie in the Oregon House, so Oregon is by no means out of reach.  We only need two senators, and they think they’re going to get one of them.  Since the big wave of 2010 was based on just the passage of Obamacare, and 2014 will be based on its catastrophic implementation, next year’s wave should be quite a bit bigger.  Oregon and the other four are within our grasp.

If we can capture the legislatures of blue states like OR,WA, MN, and ME, the path to 38 and ratification is open.  The blue firewall is down to CA, IL, NJ, NY, VT, CT, RI, MD, MA, and DE.  That’s ten, not the thirteen they need.  And Delaware isn’t actually that far fetched for us.

If this wave of 2014 is big enough, we could do some historic stuff.

State Rep. Bob Thorpe is a BBA Task Force co-founder and our sponsor in Arizona.  Had a long chat with him and Dave Biddulph about our effort there.  Turns out that the Senate President may not be as much of a problem as we thought.  Gov. Brewer will be of no help since all the Republican legislators are pissed off at her.  Bob will work with Sen. Al Melvin and Typhoon Lou on getting an I Am American presentation set up in Phoenix in January.  Once we have a firm date Bob and I will appear on “The Joe Show” in Flagstaff, and, much more importantly, we should be able to get on Mike Broomhead’s show on KFYI in Phoenix. We’ll talk about Article V, the BBA, and promote the I Am American event.  Bob says we only have a two vote majority in  the Senate, which means we can’t leave any stone unturned.  I feel a lot better about Arizona after talking to Bob.

An excellent article on the Mt. Vernon Conference appeared today at Forbes.com.  It was written by a friend of the Convention of States guys, and gave them prominent mention.  Nothing about the BBA Task Force, and our 20 resolutions.  I wrote the first comment, correcting that omission.  Even though it was very well written, it doesn’t seem to be getting any traction, which is hard to figure.

An Article V resolution to repeal Obamacare should be brought to the floor for a vote in every state legislative chamber controlled by Republicans.

1) It dramatically informs the public and the legislators themselves of the extent of the grant power given by Article V to the states.

2) It forces Democratic legislators to make a tough, consequential vote.

3) It gives Republicans a vote which helps in their reelection.

4) It provides an issue for the 2014 election, to wit: should the state legislatures repeal Obamacare?

5) It puts pressure on the Democrats who control one of the two legislative chambers in WA, NH, IA, and KY to bring it to the floor.

6) It ratchets up the political pressure against the law.

And who knows? After the 2014 election, it might even work.

Some have suggested that no fundamental reform could be achieved through Article V because 38 states are needed to ratify an amendment, and there are too many blue states.  What they don’t appreciate is that at the state legislative level, just as in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republicans have a huge advantage.

It’s because of “clustering.”  In WA, MN, and ME Republicans won legislative control in the wave election of 2010, and, in my opinion are likely to win them again in 2014.  In Washington, Democrats are clustered in Seattle, in Minnesota in the Twin Cities, in Maine the southern coastal region.  Outside these areas, Republicans are spread out over the whole state, where a majority of the state legislative districts are located.  The same is true in Oregon, with the Democrats in Portland.  Next year we only need to win two state Senate seats there, and five in the House.  Even in deep blue Delaware we only need three Senate, seven House.

So when you’re counting to get to the thirteen needed to block an amendment, what you would ordinarily think of as blue states aren’t really blue in the state legislatures.  And that’s where the ratification vote will take place.