The proposal to hold a "convention of States" to amend the U.S. Constitution is a favorite on the right, but most political observers continue to regard it as a fringe idea. It looks as if powerful forces want to change that.
The New Phase In The Convention Of States Propaganda Campaign Is Making The Idea Seem Mainstream
January 9, 2016

The proposal to hold a "convention of States" to amend the U.S. Constitution is a favorite on the right, but most political observers continue to regard it as a fringe idea. It looks as if powerful forces want to change that.

Today, Texas governor Greg Abbott announced his support for the idea:

Ar­guing that the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment has “run amok” and trampled over states’ rights, Texas Gov. Greg Ab­bott on Fri­day un­veiled a plan to over­haul the U.S. Con­sti­tu­tion through a con­ven­tion of the states.
Ab­bott, the first-term Re­pub­lic­an, rolled out nine amend­ments that he said would “re­store the rule of law in Amer­ica.”

Here's what he's proposing:

This comes two days after Marco Rubio wrote in USA Today that he also advocates a convention of states.

The idea has been promoted by Koch-affiliated organizations as ALEC and Citizens for Self-Governance. And when you look at the amendments Abbott is pushing, you can see why this would be a pet idea of the Kochs:

... in a speech Fri­day be­fore the Texas Pub­lic Policy Found­a­tion ... Ab­bott spe­cific­ally took is­sue with the En­vir­on­ment­al Pro­tec­tion Agency’s rules lim­it­ing car­bon emis­sions from power plants, which he has long op­posed. Ab­bott said the rule moved by “un­elec­ted bur­eau­crats” would cost the state and con­sumers bil­lions of dol­lars each year in high­er elec­tri­city costs....

Ab­bott said that his con­sti­tu­tion­al plan would let states re­buff the Clean Power Plan (which was based on the EPA’s au­thor­ity from the Clean Air Act) and would open up more room for states to sue....

Ab­bott also pro­posed amend­ments to block Con­gress from reg­u­lat­ing activ­ity oc­cur­ring en­tirely with­in one state (for ex­ample, cer­tain En­dangered Spe­cies Act reg­u­la­tions, he said)....

Someone clearly thinks that it's time to associate this idea with mainstream officeholders rather than talk-radio cranks. Someone clearly thinks it's time for this idea to go mainstream. Will it? Will right-wing billionaires succeed at this? Will more high-profile Republicans join Rubio and Abbott? A few months from now, will Chuck Todd and Ron Fourier be asking whether we should take this idea seriously?

Crossposted at No More Mr. Nice Blog

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