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posted by martyb on Friday December 11 2015, @05:50AM   Printer-friendly
from the pandora's-box dept.

The U.S. Constitution has 27 amendments; each was proposed by Congress and ratified by the states.

However, the Constitution sets forth another procedure, never before used, for amending the Constitution. At the request of two thirds of the states, a constitutional convention would be held, at which amendments could be proposed. Any proposals would become part of the Constitution if three fourths of the states ratified them, either at state conventions or in the state legislatures.

Currently, 27 of the needed 34 states have petitioned Congress for a constitutional convention, for the ostensible purpose of writing a balanced-budget amendment (BBA). However, the convention might propose other changes in addition or instead of a BBA—even a total rewrite of the Constitution—if 38 states agreed, the changes would become law.

In November, legislators from 30 states met in Salt Lake City to discuss the matter.


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  • (Score: 2) by J053 on Friday December 11 2015, @08:26PM

    by J053 (3532) <dakineNO@SPAMshangri-la.cx> on Friday December 11 2015, @08:26PM (#275133) Homepage
    OK - as an individual, I am limited to $2700 in donations to any candidate for election in each of the primary election and general election cycles. I can give as much as I want to a political party (or several parties, if I so desire). I suggest all organizations be subject to the same limits.

    Now, that doesn't stop me, as an individual, on my own account, from spending as much as I want to advocate for a particular candidate or position - as long as such advocacy is not coordinated with the candidate's campaign organization in any way. This was the core of Citizens United and, while I don't like what has resulted, that was arguably a correct ruling.

    What needs to be done is a revision of the rules that apply to tax-exempt organizations - go back to the original intent and forbid any political activity from a tax-exempt entity. If corporations or unions or any other organization want to be politically active, they can damn well pay income tax on their contributions. Oh, and do away with these anonymous contribution PACs, too.
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