Miscellaneous

That seems to be Obama’s attitude.  F’em.  He doesn’t really seem to care about it any more.  Very liberating for him, I’m sure, but bad — real bad — for his party.  Iraq is imploding, the whole middle east is in shambles, Marines are off Libya in case they’re needed to help in an evacuation, embassy personnel in Baghdad are being withdrawn — so what’s Obama doing?  Having a weekend of golf in Palm Springs, interrupted only by a speech on climate change.  Care about it.  By siding with the environmentalists on Keystone and carbon emissions he’s killing the Democrats in Kentucky, a coal state, in particular.  Forget about the D’s taking out Mitch McConnell.  More important to me is Democratic Speaker of the Kentucky House, Greg Stumbo.  He’s my number one target.  I’m counting on a Republican House in Kentucky, and I’ve got to believe if you’re a Democrat in Kentucky you’re in trouble.  Stay on cruise control, Obama, don’t worry about a thing. 

I know the election is four and half months away, and that I have a tendency to get too optimistic, but my God it looks more and more like a Republican wave to me.  A big, significant wave, like ’94 or ’46.  A big enough wave to give us Kentucky, and maybe big enough for Maine, Washington and Oregon.  Big enough to win Senate seats in  Iowa, Colorado, even Oregon — maybe even Minnesota.  The economy’s not going anywhere, Islamic terrorism is on a roll around the world, Obamacare is an ongoing fiasco, we’re drowning in debt, scandals at NSA, IRS, VA and Benghazi aren’t going away, and people generally have had it with the President.  It’s a perfect storm.

Of course, according to the media, there’s a civil war between the Tea Party and establishment Republicans that’s going to help the D’s.  What a crock.  This civil war has been going on since Taft and Eisenhower in ’52.  Ever heard of the Goldwater – Rockefeller fight in ’64?  Remember Reagan v. Ford in ’76?  In ’80 this same  “establishment” (meaning Wall Street and the Fortune 500) was trying to deny Reagan the Republican nomination.  John Connally  was their man, and he spent millions of their money to win One (1) delegate.  It’s the country club versus Joe’s Bar and Grill, always has been and is today.  They’ve got the money, we’ve got the folks. 

Sometimes I get so jacked up I have to have a beer.

I’ll be there for the ALEC meeting, July 30 to August 1.  There should be around 700 conservative state legislators there from every state.  It looks like I’ll be the only Task Force Co-founder there.  Dave Biddulph tells me they’re talking to the Peterson Foundation guy (the son of $ man, Pete Peterson) about arranging for one of the luncheon speakers to be a big time retired Admiral who will tell everyone our national debt and deficits are the number one threat to the security of the United States.  His speech is supposed to be very effective.  Then the Chairwoman of ALEC, Iowa House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer will get up and tell everyone the only feasible solution to these problems is the use of Article V to get a BBA.  I think she will tell everyone to get behind the effort of the Task Force.  She may call me out.  Hopefully this will convince some attendees to talk to me about getting a Resolution through in their state.

I’m only interested in talking to legislators from 15 target states:  WI, SC, KY, MT, WY, ND, VA, AZ, UT, SD, OK, ID, ME, WA and OR.  If someone is from some other state, even a blue one like California, I’ll ask them to go to termlimitconvention.org, and sign on.  An Article V term limit movement could be truly bipartisan, which would be very cool. 

I’m thinking of having our Executive Director, Scott Rogers, send an invitation to anyone who might be in Dallas, even if remotely possible.  I’ll lay out where we stand, and the political implications if we succeed, and invite them all to discuss this with me in the bar of the fancy hotel where the conference is being held.  I’ll also invite everyone to breakfast at the hotel dining room.  This is what Dave did (the breakfast part) at the ALEC meet in December.

I’ll try to talk to the media which will be there.  I don’t know if a press release would work or not.  Maybe.

Dallas could be a lot of fun.

The Virginia legislature is now Republican, and again is a target.  Actually, it’s always been a target.  If, as I believe, we don’t get to 34 in 2015, there will be a legislative election in Virginia in November of 2015.  If we’re on our game, we can inject Article V into that election, and when the newly elected Virginia Assembly meets in January 2016 we’ll be ready to roll.

To me, this is a big deal.  If, in fact, Maryland rescinds, and there is also a problem with one of the other states we’re counting on, then we’re back to 22.  I’m counting on Wisconsin, South Carolina, Kentucky, Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota in 2015, getting us to 28, under the worst case scenario.  Now, in addition to Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah, South Dakota, and Idaho, we have Virginia as a prime target. 

Because the West  Virginia Senate will be controlled by Democrats, it’s a long shot.  They will be in the majority, but there’s always a chance some may defect to a coalition, or (more unlikely) provide the winning votes on the floor.  Delegate John Overington has been working on Article V for about 20 years, and tells us we shouldn’t give up on West Virginia.

I spoke by phone with Washington State Senator Pam Roach a week ago.  She’s been in the Senate 24 years, but assured me she really wasn’t that old.  She’s in a ruling coalition with a couple Democrats, and thinks the Washington State House is probably not going to flip Republican this year.  If, as I hope, she’s being too pessimistic, Washington could become a target.

I’ve had good communication with Steve Elzinga, Oregon Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli’s Chief of Staff.  He’s been cautiously optimistic about the Oregon legislature flipping Republican.  Now that they’ve got a female pediatric neurosurgeon named Wehby running for their U. S. Senate seat, the whole Republican Party should be jacked up.  Oregon could become a target.

Rep. Roger Jacobsen of Maine and I have been in touch a few times.  He’s optimistic.  The Maine legislature went Republican in 2010, and could easily do so again.  Another target.

I like target rich environments.

 

They had a lot of them, and when they were ignored it was the beginning of the end.  In 133 B.C. Tiberius Graccchus unconstitutionally overruled a veto by his fellow tribune, and to protect himself from retaliation he violated the Roman Constitution by running for reelection.  His victory meant the law was a dead letter, and the death of the Republic was assured.

After victory over their Persian enemies, the Greeks lost their edge, and began their long decline.  The same with the Romans and their defeat of Carthage.  I used to think our defeat of communism might mean our best days were over, as well.  But radical Islam is enough of a challenge to keep us going, and it will assure our vitality for generations — as long as we keep the Constitution.  The left is contemptuous of the Constitution, and without the exercise of Article V they will torture it to death.

Yes, Article V is the last line of defense.  

Maryland could rescind, and another state’s Resolution might not hold up, leaving us with 22.  I strongly believe we’ll get at least Wisconsin, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming, giving us 28 next year.  That means we would get Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah, South Dakota and Idaho (no mean feat) and still be one short. 

Maine may be our best bet.  It went Republican in 2010, and I haven’t been able to find a reason it might not do so again this year.  Next best bet is Oregon.  The R candidate for Senate is likely to energize the entire Republican party of Oregon.  The Senate looks very doable, and with the embarrassment of Cover Oregon, the House could fall as well.  I had read somewhere on the internet that Washington went R in 2010, but that was wrong.  24 year Senate veteran Pam Roach called this morning and set me straight.  She got the pledge letter and wanted to talk about it.  I was impressed with her.  She says she’ll run for Congress in two years, and I’ll bet she could win.  She also said the Washington House Republicans are pretty dysfunctional, and are very much a long shot to win a majority.  Minnesota is off the radar, because, like AZ and SC, state senators only run in Presidential years.

So without Maine or Oregon this, conceivably, would not get done until after the 2016 election.    But that would in no way mean that it could not be an issue that defines the 2016 election.  If we’re at 32 or 33 it would be close enough to be a big story.  Close enough that Republican Presidential candidates, and the eventual nominee, would embrace and fund this thing.