Convention of States

[Skill and Chance]

This is kind of old news now.  Republicans had their best chance in a century to do this unilaterally during 2010-18, but they couldn't quite pull it off.

Dems are miles away from it even in a great year due to concentration in big states.

[Ferguson97]

I am bumping this thread again, not to report any good news about another state passing the resolution, but for the opposite reason: I am sad and discouraged that no more states have passed the resolution this year after South Carolina on 3/29. I am sad and discouraged because I was optimistically predicting that a total of 12 states would pass the Convention of States resolution this year, but instead we've had only 4 states do so. If we continue going through the next three of four years having only 3-4 states pass the resolution each year, there won't be a convention until 2027.

Good. A convention of states would end horribly. It's a good idea in theory, but it wouldn't produce any good amendments.

[MarkD]

I am bumping this thread again, not to report any good news about another state passing the resolution, but for the opposite reason: I am sad and discouraged that no more states have passed the resolution this year after South Carolina on 3/29. I am sad and discouraged because I was optimistically predicting that a total of 12 states would pass the Convention of States resolution this year, but instead we've had only 4 states do so. If we continue going through the next three of four years having only 3-4 states pass the resolution each year, there won't be a convention until 2027.

Good. A convention of states would end horribly. It's a good idea in theory, but it wouldn't produce any good amendments.

But a convention of states CANNOT "produce" any amendments. It's impossible. All it can do is propose amendments. When the convention is done with it's business, the proposals still need to be ratified by at least 38 states, and if none of them do get ratified, then the convention was just a big waste of time. So why would you say that the convention would have a horrible ending? Are you so stubbornly partisan that you would feel a deathly chill to merely look at proposals written by conservative Republicans?

In any event, one reason why I am posting today is because I learned, a couple of days ago, that Convention of States Project is reuniting with one of its original founders - Michael Farris. Mr. Farris and Mark Meckler were the co-founder of this movement when it started about ten years ago. But Farris dropped out a few years later in order to pursue other projects, leaving just Mr. Meckler as the sole leader. As I said in my last post in this thread, I don't think highly of Meckler's skills as a public speaker. But I do think highly of Mr. Farris, so I am looking forward to hearing speeches by Farris on behalf of Convention of States Project. Here is a sample of a speech by Farris (on a topic unrelated to COSP). (This video is a little over a half hour.)
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0MTkapJGMksdBizrxZEYS4iLoscP5UwqSfw4VqJgPriaUtZSKveHGxEcrWHbK31CSl&id=1469157023&mibextid=Nif5oz

[MarkD]

Milestone: the Convention of States Project has now reached 2.5 million signers on its petition. This means 2.5 million American citizens have indicated to their state legislators that they want this convention to happen -- a convention that will propose amendments to the US Constitution that will deal with these particular subject areas: 1) imposing term limits on federal officials (members of Congress, federal judges, and federal bureaucrats), 2) imposing fiscal discipline on the federal government (balanced budget amendment, requiring that Congress use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles when determining the federal budget, various possible ways to limit taxing and spending), and 3) limiting the power and scope of the federal government.

https://conventionofstates.com/news/cos-hits-2-5-million-petition-signers-reaching-huge-milestone-in-the-fight-for-freedom?fbclid=IwAR0Kj_HLhoh5Wr1JdqZAkpKWNlHawe3TLzYJn386udcVmBTHIAO9q1krQOg

It still appears, though, that we're not going to get any new states to pass the COS resolution this year. We are still at only 19 states so far, and we need 15 more. I remember a few years ago I saw some complaints on Facebook that the process of getting the 34 states to pass this resolution is taking too long, and I admonished those people to have more patience. But now I'm becoming like them, and I'm losing my patience with the slow pace at which we are getting to the goal of 34 states.

[MarkD]

What do the years 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2023 have in common? They are the years in which Convention of States Project failed to get even one new state legislature to pass the resolution that they have been sponsoring now for ten years.

This movement has been stuck at 19 of the 34 states that it needs since March 29, 2022. It's taken ten years to get to just 19 states.

I blame this laggard pace on the poor leadership skills of its president: Mark Meckler. Michael Farris would be a much better leader.

The only good news I feel about reporting today is that I finally saw, today, on Facebook, a post by COS that encapsulates exactly why I do support this movement, and it does so without the usual exaggeration and/or extremism I have so often seen in their FB posts.

This is where I can help make things better with the governing of our nation. -- Gary Brenner, COS New Jersey

https://www.facebook.com/COSProjectMO/posts/pfbid0YFWkgR4aNcPikwDha4UdRzpNKFgo2e4WbsYX6nZSvG4DAboi4t8CyBvMW4bpYy7Ql?comment_id=1061976674949370