LWV Suffolk County warns against Article V Convention, sets criteria for conventions

[Terra]

any objections to posting this on our FB page? do we support this?

http://www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org/ImportantIssues.html

League of Women Voters Announces New Position

The League of Women Voters today announced a new position calling for safeguards to govern the constitutional convention process of proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

"The League believes that procedural safeguards must be put in place to protect democratic values and ensure that any proposed amendments reflect the concerns of citizens," said Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the League of Women Voters of the United States.

"We cannot afford to have a chaotic or unrepresentative process for amending the Constitution. We can't afford to let special interests dominate a constitutional convention," MacNamara continued.

There are many current proposals for constitutional amendments, from both the right and the political left, from a Balanced Budget Amendment to one curbing the rights of corporations. "Everyone should be concerned what a runaway, topsy-turvy Constitutional Convention might do. Before we head into uncharted territory that could affect our basic principles of government and our individual rights, we need to make sure some basic rules are in place," according to MacNamara.

The League supports these safeguards for a Constitutional Convention:
1) The Convention must be transparent and not conducted in secret;
2) Representation at the Convention must be based on population rather than one state, one vote; and delegates should be elected rather than appointed;
3) Voting at the Convention must be by delegate, not by state;
4) The Convention must be limited to a specific topic;
5) Only state resolutions on a single topic count when determining if a Convention should be called; and
6) The validity of state calls for an Article V Constitutional Convention should be determined by the most recent action of the state.

The new League position is especially relevant because the Balanced Budget Amendment is close to achieving the number of states needed to require Congress to call a convention. "The states that have called for a convention on the Balanced Budget Amendment have not provided for the safeguards that are necessary. Any calls for a constitutional convention must have built-in protections to ensure it is not hijacked by a small minority," MacNamara said.

Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution provides for two ways to amend the constitution. Congress can initiate an amendment or, if two-thirds of the states petition Congress to do so, a Constitutional Convention can be called to propose amendments. Under either mechanism, proposed amendments must be ratified by three-fourths of the states in order to take effect. There has never been a constitutional convention called under the U.S. Constitution.

"There are many unresolved questions about the powers and processes of an Article V Constitutional Convention. These problems must be solved before America embarks on a dangerous journey," MacNamara concluded.

-- 
Terra

~*~*~*~
Terra Friedrichs
+1 978 808 7173

[nick bokron]

          They are calling for "safeguards" when there are none.

                          Nick

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"The Battle of Our Age"
www.PassMassAmendment.org
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[Terra]

I take it as a a carefully worded statement AGAINST an ArtV convention. In other words, until the following safeguards are in place, vote NO against ArtV.

Terra

~*~*~*~
Terra Friedrichs
+1 978 808 7173

On 2/19/2018 6:46 PM, nick bokron wrote:

          They are calling for "safeguards" when there are none.

                          Nick

On Mon, Feb 19, 2018 at 6:39 PM, Terra <ter...@compuserve.com> wrote:

any objections to posting this on our FB page? do we support this?

http://www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org/ImportantIssues.html

*League of Women Voters Announces New Position*

The League of Women Voters today announced a new position calling for
safeguards to govern the constitutional convention process of proposing
amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

"The League believes that procedural safeguards must be put in place to
protect democratic values and ensure that any proposed amendments reflect
the concerns of citizens," said Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the
League of Women Voters of the United States.

"We cannot afford to have a chaotic or unrepresentative process for
amending the Constitution. We can't afford to let special interests
dominate a constitutional convention," MacNamara continued.

There are many current proposals for constitutional amendments, from both
the right and the political left, from a Balanced Budget Amendment to one
curbing the rights of corporations. "Everyone should be concerned what a
runaway, topsy-turvy Constitutional Convention might do. Before we head
into uncharted territory that could affect our basic principles of
government and our individual rights, we need to make sure some basic rules
are in place," according to MacNamara.

The League supports these safeguards for a Constitutional Convention:
1) The Convention must be transparent and not conducted in secret;
2) Representation at the Convention must be based on population rather
than one state, one vote; and delegates should be elected rather than
appointed;
3) Voting at the Convention must be by delegate, not by state;
4) The Convention must be limited to a specific topic;
5) Only state resolutions on a single topic count when determining if a
Convention should be called; and
6) The validity of state calls for an Article V Constitutional Convention
should be determined by the most recent action of the state.

The new League position is especially relevant because the Balanced Budget
Amendment is close to achieving the number of states needed to require
Congress to call a convention. "The states that have called for a
convention on the Balanced Budget Amendment have not provided for the
safeguards that are necessary. Any calls for a constitutional convention
must have built-in protections to ensure it is not hijacked by a small
minority," MacNamara said.

Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution provides for two ways to amend the
constitution. Congress can initiate an amendment or, if two-thirds of the
states petition Congress to do so, a Constitutional Convention can be
called to propose amendments. Under either mechanism, proposed amendments
must be ratified by three-fourths of the states in order to take effect.
There has never been a constitutional convention called under the U.S.
Constitution.

"There are many unresolved questions about the powers and processes of an
Article V Constitutional Convention. These problems must be solved before
America embarks on a dangerous journey," MacNamara concluded.

--
Terra

~*~*~*~
Terra Friedrichs+1 978 808 7173 <(978)%20808-7173>

--
"The Battle of Our Age"
www.PassMassAmendment.org
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[Paul Miller]

It seems like there would need to be a constitutional amendment in order for any kind of safeguards to have any legal status, right? Kinda blows the whole thing out of the water. But if Nick and I are right, could this be alluded to as one of those things that might confuse and seduce people into letting the process go forward if there was any sense that safeguards could be enforced? Like WTP's thing about it only being in force combined with other states that have the same single issue.

Paul

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[Paul Miller]

That's an interesting perspective. Hmmm....

Paul

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[Terra]

I've been part of groups that have a lot of members "for" something and then a few holdouts have to be accommodated. Like last week, in Acton, there are a lot of working to stop this H4075 "Housing Choice" bill of the governor's. it's a total giveaway to developers. But environementalists are wooed with the greenwashed terms like "walkable cities" and "smart growth". it's all b.s. unless there are numbers behind it to say how much open space, and what is actually affordable. as it's written it defines none of this, so it'll be whatever the market will bear. anyway, to satisfy the people who are greenwashed, we change our "VOTE NO" brochure to "do not vote yes til we have appropriate metrics to get what this bill promises." I sensed that this is what was going on with the LWV.

Terra

~*~*~*~
Terra Friedrichs
+1 978 808 7173

[nick bokron]

           The acknowledgement that safeguards have to be added by Amendment means that there are now no rules.

                                 Nick

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[Terra]

Interesting point!

Terra

~*~*~*~
Terra Friedrichs
+1 978 808 7173

On 2/20/2018 10:18 PM, nick bokron wrote:

           The acknowledgement that safeguards have to be added by
Amendment means that there are now no rules.

                                 Nick

On Mon, Feb 19, 2018 at 11:47 PM, Terra <ter...@compuserve.com> wrote:

I've been part of groups that have a lot of members "for" something and
then a few holdouts have to be accommodated. Like last week, in Acton,
there are a lot of working to stop this H4075 "Housing Choice" bill of the
governor's. it's a total giveaway to developers. But environementalists are
wooed with the greenwashed terms like "walkable cities" and "smart growth".
it's all b.s. unless there are numbers behind it to say how much open
space, and what is actually affordable. as it's written it defines none of
this, so it'll be whatever the market will bear. anyway, to satisfy the
people who are greenwashed, we change our "VOTE NO" brochure to "do not
vote yes til we have appropriate metrics to get what this bill promises." I
sensed that this is what was going on with the LWV.

Terra

~*~*~*~
Terra Friedrichs+1 978 808 7173 <(978)%20808-7173>

On 2/19/2018 11:44 PM, Paul Miller wrote:

That's an interesting perspective. Hmmm....Paul
***
By providing free advertising you are colluding with the megacorporations that are stealing the common-wealth and monetizing your activities. As an alternative, consider using this space to tell the world about something important to you. Or simply delete their ad and replace it with nothing.

    On Monday, February 19, 2018, 6:48:04 PM EST, Terra <ter...@compuserve.com> <ter...@compuserve.com> wrote:

  I take it as a a carefully worded statement AGAINST an ArtV convention. In other words, until the following safeguards are in place, vote NO against ArtV.
 Terra

~*~*~*~
Terra Friedrichs+1 978 808 7173 <(978)%20808-7173> On 2/19/2018 6:46 PM, nick bokron wrote:

           They are calling for "safeguards" when there are none.

                          Nick

On Mon, Feb 19, 2018 at 6:39 PM, Terra <ter...@compuserve.com> <ter...@compuserve.com> wrote:


 any objections to posting this on our FB page? do we support this?
http://www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org/ImportantIssues.html

*League of Women Voters Announces New Position*

The League of Women Voters today announced a new position calling for
safeguards to govern the constitutional convention process of proposing
amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

"The League believes that procedural safeguards must be put in place to
protect democratic values and ensure that any proposed amendments reflect
the concerns of citizens," said Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the
League of Women Voters of the United States.

"We cannot afford to have a chaotic or unrepresentative process for
amending the Constitution. We can't afford to let special interests
dominate a constitutional convention," MacNamara continued.

There are many current proposals for constitutional amendments, from both
the right and the political left, from a Balanced Budget Amendment to one
curbing the rights of corporations. "Everyone should be concerned what a
runaway, topsy-turvy Constitutional Convention might do. Before we head
into uncharted territory that could affect our basic principles of
government and our individual rights, we need to make sure some basic rules
are in place," according to MacNamara.

The League supports these safeguards for a Constitutional Convention:
1) The Convention must be transparent and not conducted in secret;
2) Representation at the Convention must be based on population rather
than one state, one vote; and delegates should be elected rather than
appointed;
3) Voting at the Convention must be by delegate, not by state;
4) The Convention must be limited to a specific topic;
5) Only state resolutions on a single topic count when determining if a
Convention should be called; and
6) The validity of state calls for an Article V Constitutional Convention
should be determined by the most recent action of the state.

The new League position is especially relevant because the Balanced Budget
Amendment is close to achieving the number of states needed to require
Congress to call a convention. "The states that have called for a
convention on the Balanced Budget Amendment have not provided for the
safeguards that are necessary. Any calls for a constitutional convention
must have built-in protections to ensure it is not hijacked by a small
minority," MacNamara said.

Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution provides for two ways to amend the
constitution. Congress can initiate an amendment or, if two-thirds of the
states petition Congress to do so, a Constitutional Convention can be
called to propose amendments. Under either mechanism, proposed amendments
must be ratified by three-fourths of the states in order to take effect.
There has never been a constitutional convention called under the U.S.
Constitution.

"There are many unresolved questions about the powers and processes of an
Article V Constitutional Convention. These problems must be solved before
America embarks on a dangerous journey," MacNamara concluded.

--
Terra

~*~*~*~
Terra Friedrichs+1 978 808 7173 <(978)%20808-7173> <(978)%20808-7173>

--
"The Battle of Our Age"www.PassMassAmendment.org
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[Paul Miller]

I apologize but I have a lot of work stress going on right now and I barely slept last night, I need to bow out of tonight's meeting just to make sure I get near to some adequate sleep tonight, given my need to deal with what's going on at work.

I have full confidence that I'm not needed to determine what page is you would want to remove from the website. If you and J Bar want to work on it, that's fine.

By the way, did you notice that Wikispaces is actually closing down at some point this year? That'll be a larger project, of course. But just like any kind of housekeeping or de-cluttering, you first get rid of the things that you don't need that are taking up too much space as it is.

Thanks, and sorry about this.

Paul

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

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