The Far right wants to rewrite the US constitution - you won't have any rights and the rich will be able to do whatever they want to you to make money.
But how can a Constitutional Convention, spearheaded by right-wing billionaires, aiming to embed corporate personhood and unlimited political spending even take place? Can Trump really pull it off?
MORE FROM THOM
📃 Thom's Hartmann's 'Daily Take' Newsletter: [ Ссылка ]
🎦 Watch a full program re-run anytime: [ Ссылка ]
🎧 Audio Podcast: [ Ссылка ]
FOLLOW THOM
📕 AMAZON: [ Ссылка ]
📝 DAILY TAKE: [ Ссылка ]
👥 FACEBOOK: [ Ссылка ]
📸 INSTAGRAM: [ Ссылка ]
🎦 PATREON: [ Ссылка ]
🐦 X: [ Ссылка ]
Bluesky: [ Ссылка ]
🌐 WEBSITE: [ Ссылка ]
📺 YOUTUBE: [ Ссылка ]
👕 Merchandise: [ Ссылка ]
🍺 Thom Merchandise: [ Ссылка ]
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Thom Hartmann Program is the leading progressive political talk radio show for political news and comments about Government politics, be it Liberal or Conservative, plus special guests and callers.
#MoreFromThom
✔ Amazon links are affiliate links
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
It sounds to me like he's afraid of Trump doing bad things, and I'm curious. I don’t know how people get to that place. Hopefully—you're an excellent orator—could you explain it to me? What do you think they're afraid Trump is going to do, air quotes?
Well, it's not just Trump. There has been this movement, heavily funded by right-wing billionaires for the past couple of decades, to call a constitutional convention. They want to put into the Constitution that corporations are people and that bribing politicians is simply free speech.
Oh no, they did that. That’s called SCOTUS.
No, but that doesn’t mean it’s in the Constitution. Congress can still overrule the Supreme Court. Article 3, Section 2—look it up. But they can’t argue it on constitutional grounds.
How does the Constitution get amended?
Two-thirds of the House and Senate and three-quarters of the states have to agree to the amendment—or to a convention. One path to proposing an amendment, which is only the first step, is Congress proposing it, like you said, with a two-thirds vote.
The other way is if three-quarters of the states apply for a constitutional convention. Congress would then say, "Okay, let's talk about this," and the states discuss it. Anything that comes from that convention gets sent back to the states, just as if Congress had proposed it, and at that point, it requires three-quarters of the states to pass.
What I’m curious about is—what fascist tendency are they going to be able to get three-quarters of the states to agree on?
State legislatures are the ones involved, and more than 30 states have already requested a constitutional convention for different purposes.
Right. Exactly. Who gets to show up at that convention? Conservative legal folks argue that those state requests are legitimate under Article 5, and that they’ve reached the 34-state threshold. Therefore, we can have a convention.
A constitutional expert has never said that.
Well, have him talk to these people.
I’m just saying—I’m not a constitutional expert. I’m literally a national expert on this. This is the one thing in my life I can tell you with absolute certainty that I know. It’s not because I think I’m smart—it’s because I listen to other people.
I disagree with Lee about some stuff, but that’s my prerogative. I just don’t see how you’re going to convince people. I live in Washington State. Trump isn’t going to move us to do jack or squat.
According to these constitutional law guys, a second response isn’t even necessary. Congress can simply do this with a majority vote—not a two-thirds vote.
Jeff, thank you for the call.
