Month: December 2013

Went to ALEC’s annual “Jingle Bell Rock” reception last night.  I’m having a beer, surveying the scene (it brought back a lot of memories), when Lew Uhler and his son Kirk arrive.  Lew spotted me, and we grabbed a table.  Lew got a cocktail and we talked about the progress we were making in “the cause”.  Lew was clearly enjoying himself, and got up a couple times to circulate.  Everybody knows Lew.

Back at the table, my old friend Robin Taylor brought over a couple of attractive women in their 50’s, who more or less accosted us.  The next thing you know they were trying to get us to go to dinner with them.  Kirk Uhler (nothing if not a dutiful son ) intervened, and as the crowd thinned out we all left.

I haven’t had this much fun since the hogs ate my brother.

Spoke with State Rep. Wes Keller (AK) about tapping in to the national homeschooler network and was advised that the person to talk to was, without question, none other than Mike Farris.  It dawned on me (I am actually pretty new to this current project) that Mike has behind him a national army of homeschoolers.  Drawing on this resource to mobilize support behind an Article V effort is, in political terms, brilliant.  These are exactly the sort of people we want.  I have little doubt that Mike has their full support.  He’s been through the wars with them, as their attorney. 

We really have only one disagreement with Mike and Mark Meckler, concerning the scope of the call.  Later I spoke with Dave Biddulph about all this.  None of it was news to him.  We agreed that when the day comes when we can pool our efforts with them, the job will become immeasurably easier.

Yesterday we all met State Senator Al Melvin of Arizona.  He’s an impressive Tea Party candidate for Governor in a crowded Republican primary.  We hooked him up with Typhoon Lou Marin of Iamamerican, and they’ll be working together on putting on a Tea Party event in Phoenix, similar to the recent one in Ohio that was so successful.  Al will be “on the podium” with Lou, and after Lou converts the crowd he will get a chance to make a pitch.  I think Al sees the value of our movement to his candidacy.  It could help propel him to the nomination.  We hope it does, since that would be an actual demonstration of the political potential available to candidates who associate themselves with us.

State Rep. Ken Ivory is our man in Utah, and because of the very strong Birch/Eagle Forum presence there we think sending in the Iamamerican team would be of great help to him.  Ken is totally on board, and is willing to take considerable personal political risk for the cause.  One of his colleagues was taken out for doing so, and our hats are off to Ken for his willingness to take the heat.  In any event, the state of Utah is in his capable hands. \

State Rep. Gary Banz has Oklahoma.  Assemblyman Chris Kapenga has Wisconsin.  Together they are organizing Saturday’s Mt. Vernon Conference.  It’s similar in in some ways to the Virginia/Maryland conference which preceded the Annapolis Convention of 1786.  They will meet with legislators from around 20 other states to identify the procedural issues which a Convention of States would face.  Later, in the spring, the presiding officers of every state legislature will be invited to delegate a member from their body to attend a meeting in Indianapolis  in order to hash out the proposed rules for such a Convention.  A subsequent meeting, about a year from now, would “adopt” them, in the sense of proposing them to such a Convention, if it ever takes place.  This is important work, and they’ve given a great deal of thought to it. 

Gary has invented an Article V board game, (it will sell for $17.87) which he hopes will be available for purchase soon.  I’ll be getting one for my granddaughter.  He promised to get me more info on it, which I will share. Chris is young, and fairly new to politics. He’s very bright, attractive, and soft spoken.  I asked him if this was a “Wisconsin” thing, since Gov. Scott Walker is similarly mild mannered.  He said Walker is working on livening up his delivery.  If he does so successfully, I think he’s the front runner for the 2016 nomination for President.  Anyway, Chris impressed in a Paul Ryan kind of way.  What is it with these guys from Wisconsin?  (BTW, his Congressman is Jim Sensenbrenner, an old friend of mine from the YR’s in college).  We all feel better about Wisconsin with Chris as our sponsoring legislator.

This morning we had a two and a half hour breakfast at the Grand Hyatt coffee shop.  Dave Biddulph, BBA Task Force co-founder, was the organizer.  Scott Rogers (our executive director), D.C. lawyer Michael Stern, and ALEC senior director Michael Bowman were there.  We were joined at various times by Article V Caucus co-chairs Rep. Yvette Herrell (NM) and Sen. Kevin Lundberg (CO).  (Their caucus currently has 82 members from 29 states, and is growing).  Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig dropped by, complaining of pink eye he got from his four year old.

When the discussion turned to Congress, and the role House Judiciary Chairman Goodlatte might play, we joined the table of Mike Farris, head of the Convention of States Project, and a personal friend of Chairman Goodlatte and Mark Meckler, President of Citizens for Self-Governance.  These are the fellows who are pursuing their own separate Article V strategy.  They are both very well informed, and we had a frank and productive discussion on issues which concern us all.

At lunch I sat in the back of the room with Lew Uhler and my old Alaska buddy, retired State Senator Robin Taylor.  Ted Cruz put on an impressive performance, but the highlight for me was when the following speaker, ALEC private sector head Steve Seale, asked Lew to stand up while he gave a glowing account of Lew’s 40 years of contributions to the cause.  Afterward a reporter came up to interview Lew.  Here’s hoping he gets some recognition in the press.

 

There were around 150 conservative activists at Grover Norquist’s weekly get together yesterday.  I thought it began at 10:30, so when I arrived we had already made our presentation, which I gather went well.  An interesting event, which I have heard about for years, but never attended.

After a luncheon speech by Senator Ron Johnson (WI,) Mike Farris and Mark Meckler (conventionofstates.com) were featured at a well attended ALEC workshop.  They, along with Senator Johnson, made remarks, which were well received.  They have tapped in to the country’s home schooler network for volunteers, apparently with good success. I later learned that Alaska State Senator Fred Dyson and Rep. Wes Keller, both old friends, have great contacts with these folks, which we will pursue.  They could be an extremely valuable resource, almost as significant as the Tea Party.

In his parting statement Senator Johnson admonished us to cooperate with one another, and after the event I introduced myself to Mark Meckler and we exchanged cards.  Apparently there’s been a bit of conflict between his organization and ours, which serves no one well.  He is acquainted with Lew Uhler, and we agreed to meet at Lew’s Roseville, CA office on Dec. 16 to iron things out (if Lew’s available).  Mark believes, based on his extensive experience, that volunteers can be more easily organized if the Convention of States has a broader mandate than just a balanced budget amendment,  He also thinks that we will face lengthy court delays before we can convene a Convention of States, because the various state resolutions which we’ve gathered are not identical.  We believe, based on the opinion of Professor Rob Natelson (the foremost legal expert on Article V) that these legal concerns are unfounded.  We also think that unless the subject matter of the state resolutions is strictly confined to one subject, the fears of a “runaway convention” will prevent success in the state legislatures.

Mark and his group are unconvinced, and want a Convention of States to have the authority to propose a range of amendments designed to rein in the federal government.  We agreed to disagree, and that whichever idea proves most successful should be the one to focus on.  The fact that we have 18 resolutions in hand, and that his group (which only formed a few months ago) has none, suggests to me that we have the better approach.  Time will tell.  We, of course, have the advantage of having been specifically endorsed by Ronald Reagan, and can draw on the vast experience and contacts of old Reagan hand Lew Uhler.  But we certainly don’t want to burn any bridges with Mark and his group.  They have resources which could prove extremely valuable to the cause.  As they encounter resistance to their concept in the state legislatures, they will hopefully come around to our way of thinking, and can become part of the Article V coalition.

 

The DC American Legislative Exchange Council meeting begins today as legislators and those working on the BBA Task Force begin arriving.  Hopefully, the lawmakers will be receptive to our message.  The Task Force is making a “presentation” of sorts this evening at 5:00.  There is a lot of enthusiasm, and momentum, from our recent success in Ohio.  Gov. Kasich is totally on board, and is writing personal letters to other Governors urging them to push this.  Typhoon Lou Marin and Lauren Enns of Iamamerican made a pitch last night to the most organized of the national Tea Party groups.  Getting them on  board would provide a large influx of ground troops as the effort proceeds from state to state.

Lew Uhler has arranged a meeting today from 2:00 to 4:00 with some leaders of conservative organizations.  At least I think that’s what it is.  We’ll find out.  Tomorrow at 10:30 the members of the Task Force will go to Grover Norquist’s weekly get together of conservative activist types in DC.  I gather our effort is the scheduled topic of discussion for this week’s meet.  I believe I am expected to summarize the state of play.

This whole exercise is based on the belief that Obamacare is such a political catastrophe for the Democrats that the people of this country are ready for structural change.  Every morning’s news, including today’s, is confirmation.