Month: August 2017

You can’t blame anyone for your own failures.  It’s tempting to get angry, and take out your frustration on those who don’t see things your way.  But that’s no way to go through life.  If you fail, you move on.

Apparently our dysfunctional Congress, currently on summer vacation, will do nothing about anything until the end of September, when the federal government runs out of money, and the debt ceiling has to be raised.  So they’ll wind up passing one Monster, Kick the Can, bill.  Pathetic.

It’s the best they can do.  It’s a hell of a way to govern a country, but what can be done about it?

For seven years the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force has tried to convince state legislators that Article V is the answer.  With virtually no resources, the Task Force has won victories in fifteen state legislatures.  Seven more are needed to force a Call of an Article V Amendment Convention.  None of the remaining target states will be easy, and without some support it’s just not going to happen.

But I don’t see any of the 27 states on record with BBA Resolutions rescinding any time soon, with the possible exception of Colorado.  This is a base of support that’s not going away.  A BBA Resolution lasts indefinitely, until rescinded, and those 26 or 27 Resolutions will sit there, until someone with some serious money decides to finish the job.

The horses have been led to water, but you can’t force them to drink.

This has been a year of decision for me, personally.  My 95 year old mother is now under my responsibility, and will be close by in a nursing home.  I’ve finally arranged for my 76 year old sister to be united with her daughters in Tacoma.  The situation with my three sons is stabilizing.  My 101 year old mother in law lies close to death.  And Babbie and I hope to purchase property in Montana this year, close to my youngest son and his growing family.  I have a lot to be grateful for.

Nothing I or the Task Force have done has been in vain.  There is now more awareness of Article V in State Capitols across the country than ever before.  It’s the obvious answer to our problems with the federal government.

Its time will come.

You can make a strong case that Donald Trump owes his victory to the death of Justice Scalia.  If there had not been a Supreme Court vacancy to fill, the Never Trumpers at National Review would have had a lot more company.  If Clinton controlled that appointment, it would have shifted the 4-4 balance of the Court (the ninth Justice, Kennedy, is a switch hitter) into an unbreakable 5-3 liberal majority.  This would have been calamitous for constitutional conservatives.  I didn’t vote for Trump because I live in California, and my vote doesn’t really count.  If I was in a battleground state I probably would have forced myself to vote for him.  Supreme Court vacancies move votes, at least from people like me.

I call Kennedy a switch hitter, and that’s not really fair.  He’s much more comfortable with his colleague Neil Gorsuch than he is with Justice Sotomayor.  And he’s decided to let Trump pick his replacement next summer. His timing is perfect, and all Republicans will benefit, particularly in the Senate.

The left is going to absolutely bat guano crazy, because Kennedy is the fifth vote to uphold Roe v. Wade, and abortion rights in general, and his replacement will be the fifth vote to overturn Roe.

Which really isn’t that big a deal.  Before Roe v. Wade, states had their own abortion laws, and they were evolving toward more leniency.  As Governor of California, Ronald Reagan signed such a bill into law.  Once Roe is overturned, the states will once again control the laws on abortion within their borders.  California will continue to have the most liberal abortion law in the country.  South Dakota will probably have the most restrictive, with the rest of the states somewhere in between.  There’s enough money in the pro-abortion movement to help pregnant women in South Dakota get to an abortion clinic somewhere, so this isn’t really such an important decision in the real world.

Politically, it’s dy-no-mite.  Every Democrat in the Senate must, must vote against Trump’s nominee, regardless of how qualified and attractive they are.  They have no choice, and it’s going to hurt them.

As they demonstrated in the Gorsuch hearings, Senate Republicans know how to conduct themselves with Supreme Court nominations.  Cruz and others on the Senate Judiciary Committee will make mincemeat of the Democrats, who have no choice but to be hysterical.  Good TV, and bad politics for Democrats.

This will help the Republicans in the House, as well.  Although, at the rate they’re going they may be beyond help.