Month: March 2014

  We lost Utah 32-41-2.  It really was a long shot, without doubt the biggest mountain to climb, because of their caucus primaries and superbly organized opposition.  Next year the Mountain States, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, North and South Dakota hold the key to winning this thing.  Add Arizona and Oklahoma if we don’t pull them out this year.  The west is the key — Washington and Oregon will hopefully be in play as well.  I like traveling in the west, the country, the people.  I feel at home there.  As long as I have the strength (I’ll be 69 in September) I’ll be seeing a lot of these states. 

What was the Gipper doing when he was 69?

The TN senate passed the reso today 29-0-1.  Things look good in  the House, so we should add TN this month, I would think.

Today Utah House voted for the DLA 55-20, a good sign.  The reso will be brought up tomorrow or Monday, depending on Rep. Powell’s reading of the vote.  A win in Utah would be an upset.  The CoS state director, Allen Boetcher, told me that if we got Sen. Lee’s support we would get a whole lot of conservative activists to join.  We’re trying multiple approaches to him.  We’re pretty certain he’s with us, but he doesn’t want to upset Eagle Forum, part of his base, and partly responsible for his caucus victory over Bennett.  Kirk Uhler told me he’s really tight with Mark Levin, so I spent a few hours Tuesday and Wednesday waiting to get on Levin’s #4 ranked radio talk show.  I got 3 or 4 minutes of air time.  I told him we were looking to Sen. Lee for help.  I didn’t get the impression that he’ll call Lee on our behalf.  He’s an irritable son of a bitch, and he picked up that I was trying to steer him to a place he didn’t want to go.  Over all, I’ve been told that it went quite well, though.  I must say I was surprised by his lack of enthusiasm for our effort.  He sent copies of his book to every state legislator in the country, and here we are doing what he passionately believes in, and yet a ho-hum response.  Maybe the CoS guys are pals of his, or something.  Anyway, my big idea of getting him to be our cheerleader doesn’t look promising.

I asked Kraig to contact reporter Gehrke of the Salt Lake Tribune.  He wrote a pretty good piece on the committee hearing I testified at.  We want him to call Lee’s DC office e and try to get an answer from the Senator on his position on HJR 8.  Kraig tried, to no avail.  He says Gehrke is a liberal who doesn’t do favors for R’s.  Oh, well.

The community is the 7300 or so members of the 50 state legislators.  The organization is a network of Article V supporters. 

The Mount Vernon Assembly last December, where 100 state legislators met to discuss the procedures of an Amending Convention, was aimed at organizing this community.  They’ll meet again in Indianapolis in June.  They’re trying to get presiding officers or their designees from every state.  The main man is Indiana Senate President David Long.  

The Article V Caucus is organizing this community as well.  ALEC has been doing it for over 40 years, though not focused on Article V.

I’m trying to do my part through the BBA Task Force.  My ultimate goal is to have state legislators from around the country communicate with one another about the next Article V amendment.  The Utah House Speaker wants to repeal the 17th Amendment.  I’ve heard a fair amount of talk about repealing the 16th Amendment, thus ending the income tax.  I’m for term limits, but I’d settle for the Madison Amendment — which would make it easier for states to amend.  The best one of all, I think, will also be one of the hardest to pass, so it should be the third Article V amendment.  That would allow 30 states to overturn a law passed by Congress or a regulation of the feds. 

This comes up because my latest mind attack is to organize legislators to lobby each other on Article V.  The effort is underway for Utah.  The Task Force is reaching out to a dozen or more of our more committed legislative supporters, asking them to contact around 15 members of the Utah House — not to ask them to pass the Reso, but to assure them that Harry Reid, Obama, and Congress will have absolutely nothing to do with an Amendment Convention.  Any attempt, by anyone, to interfere with the workings of the Convention will be summarily rejected.  And, of course, to assure them that only the BBA will be considered.  Kraig Powell is hearing these arguments a lot, and this is what we’re doing to deal with it.

The more these legislators interact with one another, the better.  Very few of them realize it, but they’re all members of the Fourth, and Supreme, branch of the government designed by the Framers.  This Super Legislature votes by state.  Right now it can only act with a 2/3 vote.  But it can do ANYTHING — except reduce the equal suffrage of the states in the Senate.  Once this community flexes its muscles, and exercises its power, it’s going to be mighty tempting to do it again.

Feds, beware.  The States are coming.

AZ Senate Pres. Biggs wants to kill the bill.  SC Finance Chair Leatherman is holding us by the throat.  So our losses in SD and ID leave us, this year, with MI, WI, LA, TN, OK, and UT.  Even if we get UT (a long shot) we get to 27, seven short.  We need $ for 2015.  If we can get them, we can really run actual campaigns in ND, MT, WY, ID, and SD.  All four would get us to 32.  So we’ll need KY, MN, ME, WA, or OR.  The fact is without a big wave in Nov. we’re in trouble. 

More reason than ever to lay the groundwork in the five we hope come our way.  KY and WV pledge letters are in the mail.  If we don’t get a good response I’ll try and think of something else.  I’ll talk to Overington in WV and DeCesare in KY to see if they think the letters do any good.

This is going to be a long haul.

A two day trip to the UT Capitol was productive, as I may have helped persuade a couple R’s to pass the Reso out of committee on a 5-4 vote.  On to the House floor.  Dave is tight with Sen. President Niederhauser, who has promised a vote.  They adjourn on 3-13, and a Senate vote would probably be in the last two days of the session.  After our losses in SD and ID a win in UT would be a huge boost.  Still a long shot, since the Eagle Forum is so well organized, and the UT caucus primary system gives organized activists a lot of clout.  We’re working with the UT CoS guy.  He was at the committee hearing and realizes his bill will go absolutely nowhere if we fail.  NFIB promises big help.  Lew Uhler is close to Sen. Hatch, and is trying to get him involved.  We’re trying to get Sen. Lee to help.   We’re doing all we can.

AZ passed the House 32-29, but the Senate Pres. plans to kill the bill.  We’ve got to get a way to turn him.  It may not happen, but we’ve got time to work on it.  We’re going to try and organize four Tea Party groups in his Senate district. 

TN is looking great, as House and Senate race each other to be the first to pass the bill.  I’ve got to get them to reach out to Glenn Reynolds, and get us an Instalanche.

SC Senate Finance Chair Leatherman is thus far impervious to our entreaties.  Bill Fruth is on top of this, and a lot of other things.  I’m calling him this weekend to strategize.

A couple weeks ago Rep. Yvette Herrell of NM told us of calling in to the Mark Levin talk radio show, getting right on the air, and having a good 5-6 minutes of air time.  I asked GA Sen. Bill Cowsert to call in and report on GA being 21.  Bill’s a geat guy.  Met him at ALEC in Dec.  He liked the idea.  I’d like it to be a tradition, every time we get another state the prime sponsor calls in to report.

Mailed the WV pledge letters today!  Now that’s something to celebrate.

I’m having a beer.