Common Cause's Jay Riestenberg: Right-wing Campaign to Convene Constitutional Convention Jeopardizes Americans' Fundamental Rights

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

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Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

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Campaign to Convene Constitutional Convention Jeopardizes Americans' Fundamental Rights and Values

Posted March 22, 2017

Interview with Jay Riestenberg, campaigns & states media strategist with Common Cause, conducted by Scott Harris

A well-funded campaign by conservative groups calling for a constitutional convention to enact a balanced budget amendment has flown under the radar of most of America. Now, the effort to convene such a convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution is within striking distance of gaining the required number of states to succeed. If only six more states sign on, proponents of a convention will have the 34 states needed to hold the first constitutional convention since the original convention of states drafted the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, dozens of states adopted calls for an Article V convention to propose a balanced budget amendment, but concerns about the potential of a runaway convention led more than 12 states to rescind their endorsement of the effort. More recently, the state of New Mexico rescinded their original 1979 call for a convention, due to the unpredictable direction of a new convention that could eliminate current constitutional rights and protections, influenced by wealthy conservative and corporate interests.

Although some progressive activists favor holding a convention to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling that opened up U.S. election campaigns to unlimited and unaccountable money in politics, the primary advocate for a convention has come from Republicans and right-wing special interest groups, including the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, which is funded by multibillionaires such as energy and chemical industry magnates Charles and David Koch, who have a combined net worth of over $95 billion, slightly larger than the state budget of Florida. Between The Line’s Scott Harris spoke with Jay Riestenberg, campaigns & states media strategist with Common Cause, who explains why his group and others strongly oppose the effort to call a constitutional convention. [Rush transcript.]

JAY RIESTENBERG: Under Article V of the U.S., there's basically two ways to amend the Constitution. The first way, which has always been used, is you get two-thirds of each chamber in Congress to pass the amendment and then it goes to the state and 38 states, or three-fourths of the states have to ratify it. And throughout our 230-year constitutional history, that's always how we've been able to amend the Constitution.

For about the last 50 years or so, there has been an effort underway by conservative groups who have been pushing for a new constitutional convention – the other way to amend the Constitution under Article V. And that's when you can get two-thirds of the states, or 34 state legislatures to call for a convention. And today, we're frighteningly close to getting to that, as conservative groups such the American Legislative Exchange Council – a corporate lobbying group that does a lot of its work in secret – now have. They claim 28 states on the record calling for a convention.

The problem with calling an Article V convention for one reason, which is what most groups are doing, is (that the groups claim) that it only needs to be about one issue. So what that means is they call an Article V convention to enact a balanced budget amendment. (But) anything can be brought up, anything from restricting the 1st Amendment, to repealing Supreme Court decisions around marriage equality and health care and immigration and abortion access, to restricting privacy rights and voting rights. So in theory, under an Article V convention, everyone's constitutional rights and civil liberties could be up for grabs.

BETWEEN THE LINES: From my understanding, this is maybe the closest the nation has been to actually, in reality calling one these conventions.

JAY RIESTENBERG: So actually, it takes 34 states to call a convention, or two-thirds of the states, which is 34. In the late 1970s and 1980s, we were dangerously close as we are now with about 30 or 31 states, and all of sudden state legislatures realized that this was a really bad and dangerous idea. So states started to rescind them. And what we've seen over the last 10 years is a renewed effort by conservative groups, Koch brother-funded groups, to start this process again. And so, today, most people agree, we're at 28 states, meaning only 6 states away from calling a convention. Now that's scary on its face, but what's even scarier – since this is being pushed by conservative, mostly Republicans – is that there are currently eight Republican-controlled states that do not have a application on the books. So the numbers are really in the special interest groups who are wanting to call a conventions favor.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Now what is your organization or other groups that are opposed to convening such a convention doing to actually turn the tide in the other direction. You might also mention the fact that the state of New Mexico has rescinded their original endorsement of such a convention.

JAY RIESTENBERG: Yeah, that's right. It was a great win. So, what us and other groups, both on the right and the left are doing, we're educating the public and talking to lawmakers and we're really seeing reaction from those Republican and Democrats about how bad of an idea this is, and seeing bipartisan support to stopping this. So Common Cause is really focused on rescinding some of these older calls. You mentioned New Mexico. This was a coalition led by Common Cause and some other groups in New Mexico working to rescind it, which is why we're at 28 versus 29. We were at 29 last week and luckily New Mexico rescinded. We're looking to do similar things in Maryland, Nevada, and Colorado. We did this last year in Delaware. Unfortunately, I think the numbers still are in the other side's favor. So we will definitely have to look at legal arguments we can make. A lot of these applications they call live include 28 older applications passed in the 1970s and 1980s, so there are some legal questions on whether these applications are still valid.

For more information, visit Common Cause at commoncause.org.