We’re getting uncomfortably close to a potentially disastrous event for our Constitution.  As of December 8, 2017, twenty-eight states have “live” applications to Congress to call an Article V convention to propose a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA). That means that if only six more states apply for such a convention, Congress will be forced to call it.

The danger in calling for such a convention is that based on the precedent of the May 14 Constitutional Convention of 1787, an Article V constitutional convention would have the power to make major changes in the Constitution, or even completely rewrite it, including changing the ratification process to make adoption of the revised constitution easier. This danger is referred to as “a runaway convention.”

In the early 1980s, we were even closer to the calling of an Article V convention. Thirty-two of the necessary 34 states had applied to Congress to call a BBA Article V convention. Over the years, from 1988 to 2010, seventeen states rescinded (canceled) their BBA Article V convention applications based on the widespread knowledge that Article V constitutional conventions are considered threats to our rights as secured by the Constitution due to the power of such conventions to become runaway conventions. That meant that for a while only fifteen or sixteen states had “live” applications for a BBA Article V convention.

However, after 30 years had elapsed with no new BBA Article V convention applications approved, the momentum changed back in favor of applying for such conventions in 2013. Since then, some states that had rescinded their applications have reapplied, and some other states that had never applied, have now applied for the first time. However, 2016-2017 saw a resurgence in rescissions of BBA Article V convention applications, including rescissions in Delware (2016), Maryland (2017), Nevada (2017), and New Mexico (2017). Which brings us up to the present situation of twenty-eight states with “live” applications.

This resurgence of the Article V convention movement since 2013, although slowed down by the four recent rescissions, has been based on the energetic creation of new narratives by Article V convention proponents. However, these new narratives are based on numerous false marketing claims. For a rebuttal of these false marketing claims, we highly recommend that you view “Change It or Obey It? Why the Constitution Is the Solution,” a new 89-minute video presentation by constitutionalist Robert Brown by clicking on the graphic.

Once you’ve seen the video, we also recommend that you click the next graphic on the left and read the article, “Save the Constitution by Rescinding Article V Convention Applications,” for further information on the history of the Article V Convention movement, the current status, and the need to rescind all existing Article V convention applications of all types in your state.  A “Model Resolution for a State Legislature to Rescind All Constitutional Convention Applications” is included in the article.

If you live in one of the 28 orange states shown in the BBA,  Article V, on Convention Status Map above, then the need is especially great for you to work with other activists and with your state legislators to get a rescission resolution introduced and passed. Remember that for every one of the 28 states that passes a rescission resolution, the BBA Article V convention movement is one state further away from their goal of 34 states.

If you live in Idaho, Oregon, South Carolina, or Virginia, you are off the hook for needing to rescind your state’s Article V convention applications because you have rescission resolutions that are still in effect and not overriden by later reapplications for a BBA Article V convention.

Please visit, phone, and email your state legislators in support of introducing and passing a rescission resolution. Although we provide a way for easy emailing to your state legislators, we know from long experience that getting a rescission resolution introduced and passed takes a lot more interaction with your legislators than that provided by emails alone.

Click here for the office locations and phone numbers of your state legislators.

Click here  to view our Stop a Constitutional Convention action project page at JBS.org for more educational tools.

resource: john birch society – jbs.org

Yes…them, but don’t get it twisted, and don’t let the trump admin fool you, we need to stay several steps ahead of them …  Our constitution and democracy seem to be in danger …

imo ~ Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

The Policy Solutions Moms Need This Mother’s Day (And All Days!)

One thing we can say for sure is that none of us would be anywhere without our moms– especially the two-thirds of American families that rely on a female breadwinner or co-breadwinner! Unfortunately, we are lacking policy solutions that give women and families a fair shot to get ahead. So as we head into Mother’s Day weekend we wanted to take some time to discuss the policies that moms need. Here are five steps we can take right now:

1. Provide access to quality, affordable childcare. Quality, affordable child care is out of reach for many families across the country. From 2000 to 2012, child care costs for a typical middle class family grew by30 percent. Today, in all 50 states child care costs more than median rent and in 31 states and DC, child care costs more than college. One way to expand access to child care would be through a High Quality Child Care Tax Credit, as CAP has proposed, which would help low-income and middle class families afford quality child care, especially Millennial families.

2. Ensure equal pay for equal work. Mothers are the primary, sole, or co-breadwinners in nearly two-thirds of families, yet they continue to earn less than their male counterparts, with Latinas and African American women experiencing the sharpest pay disparities. Although the law requires equal pay for equal work, there is more we need to do to ensure that both women and men enjoy the fullest protections against discrimination. Unfortunately, despite overwhelming public support, conservatives in Congress continue to be unwilling to move forward concrete action steps that could help uncover discriminatory pay practices, create greater pay transparency, and ensure that the law works fairly for everyone.

3. Require paid sick days.Everyone gets sick, but not everyone has time to get better. Almost 40 million U.S. employees, or about 40 percent of the nation’s private-sector workforce, do not have access to paid sick days. If employees must take unpaid time off to recover for care for a sick family member, the loss of pay can take a toll, particularly on the low- income workers who are least likely to have access to these policies. Allowing employees to earn paid sick days helps keep our economy, families, and communities healthy.

4. Establish paid family leave. Nearly all workers need to take time away from work at some point in their lives to deal with a serious personal or family illness, or to care for a new child or aging parent. But most Americans don’t have access to paid family leave and are forced to make the choice between caring for themselves or a loved one or losing their jobs. Access to paid family and medical leave could allow workers to meet those needs without jeopardizing their economic security. The United States is the only developed country that doesn’t guarantee workers the right to earn paid time off in some form; only 12 percent of private sector workers have access to paid family leave through their employers. We need a national paid family and medical leave insurance program that allows workers to continue to earn at least a portion of their pay while they take time away from work: it’s good for families and it’s good for the economy, too.

5. Protect women’s access to affordable health care and contraception. Access to comprehensive, affordable, reproductive health care is a critical part of economic stability for women and families across the United States. About 61 percent of abortions are obtained by women who are already mothers. But despite the unprecedented increases in health insurance coverage brought by the Affordable Care Act, too many women struggle to access any quality health care at all, let alone the services that help them plan their families like contraception and safe abortion care. Right now, the Supreme Court is considering a challenge to Texas’ omnibus anti-abortion law that has made abortion care nearly impossible to access in many areas of the state by shuttering women’s health clinics without medical justification. Should the Court rule in favor of Texas’ law, anti-choice politicians will be given the green light to continue to enact the same kind of restrictive measures that could make it difficult, if not impossible, for millions of women all over the country to access abortion care. Comprehensive health care must include supports to help women plan when to start, and grow, their families.

BOTTOM LINE: The mothers in our lives deserve the very best from us, and Mother’s Day is one easy way to show we appreciate them. But they also deserve the best from the employers and policymakers that can affect their ability to help their families succeed. Those officials who stand in the way should be more afraid than the child who forgets to call their mom this Sunday.

image is from google