From Judi Caler: Emergency TEXAS GOP ACTION ALERT
Not Your Usual Blast! When all else fails, sometimes Republican legislative leaders can be influenced by the grassroots of the Republican Party. This is the time of year when the grassroots meet at GOP conventions and vote on their party platform. In Texas, one of the planks being considered for inclusion in the 2024 platform is to support the Convention of States application (COS), which passed in 2017—with the help of a compromise resolution to sunset COS and all future Art. V convention applications 8 years from the date of passage. Thanks to you and our relentless boots on the ground, the sunset remains in place today, and the COS application is slated to expire, as intended—on May 10, 2025—unless the Republican Leadership manages to renew the application before it expires. And you can bet they're going to try again in 2025! But they don't need help from the GOP grassroots! Our Mission is to Remove Plank #37 from the 2024 Republican Party Platform! Texas GOP Plank #37 37. Article 5 Convention of States: The Texas Legislature shall extend the call for a Convention of States to limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government. See the bottom of page 6 of the GOP party platform. A subcommittee will be taking testimony and voting on Plank #37 Monday, May 20, 2024 @ 1:00 pm (CDT). The full Platform committee will be voting on all planks on Wednesday, May 22. So please get your letter in before Monday's meeting if possible, and if not, by Tuesday! Your Letter to 2024 Platform Committee Members The talking points are at the end of this blast. Please write all 31 GOP Platform Committee Members, and ask them to REMOVE Plank #37 (Art. V Convention) from the party platform. They need to know why you're opposed to an Article V Convention. Also, please emphasize, in your own words, that this issue is heated and splitting the party during an election year. A short letter is more likely to be read. So it's best to focus on one talking point per letter.
Platform Committee Members' Addresses (Copy the addresses below as a block into “BCC,” and copy your own address into the “To” box; and place "Plank #37" and perhaps something catchy on the subject line.) Texas GOP Platform Committee Members (31)—Dear Platform Committee Member:
Talking Points
Please choose one or write your own letter. "State Legislatures cannot dictate Amendments to be considered at an Art. V Convention" (flyer) shows that Lobbyists' assurances that a convention would be limited to considering only amendments requested by 34 State Legislatures are false. A proposed Congressional "call," H.CON.RES. 24 (2023-2024), proves that Congress may count all applications together—including centuries-old, obsolete applications on any subject, including gun control, to reach the 34-state threshold! This contradicts what State Legislators are being told to secure their votes on the applications. "State Legislatures have no power to select & control Delegates" (flyer) shows that those who promise that State Legislators will select and control the Delegates are making stuff up! No one can predict how the convention Delegates will be selected or what the convention rules will be. The delegate-selection process is up to Congress, and the rules are up to the Delegates. Delegates would have more power than State Legislatures and are not subject to state law—including the restrictions in state applications and unfaithful delegate laws. No one has power over Delegates! "George Mason Never Said It!" shows that James Madison warned that those who secretly wish for a new Constitution would push for an Article V Convention under the pretext of getting Amendments. No Framer, including George Mason, ever said that the convention method was added to Article V in order to rein in the federal government, should it become tyrannical. The “Brilliant Men” flyer shows that James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, four US Supreme Court Justices, and other jurists and scholars warned that Delegates to an Article V convention can't be controlled. The "Myths v. Facts" flyer exposes a number of the false assurances made by the convention lobby. You can copy and paste one myth & fact into a short letter and link the entire flyer, if you wish. Or write your own letter using information from this flyer. The "Declaration of Independence” flyer shows why Delegates to an Article V convention have the power to throw off the Constitution we have and set up a new one, with a new and easier mode of ratification.
Talking Points Specific to COS The Phony Petitions & Polls flyer tells of how, during 2018, two Idaho Legislators reported that the "Convention of States" petitions they received were digitally "signed" by some constituents who, when contacted, said they never signed. Rep. Priscilla Giddings (R) called this practice "hi-tech fraud." Former Rep. Dorothy Moon (R) called it "dirty tricks." "Dark Money—Not the Grassroots—Is Behind the Convention of States Organizations (COS)" proves that almost 2/3 of the money driving COS's effort to apply to Congress for an Article V Convention, is coming from major donors giving COS $5,000 to $2,000,000 over the latest 3 years of reporting available. Right out of the gate, Convention of States was funded with over $1 million in seed money and a big salary. Why are billionaires trying to get their hands on our Constitution? "COS adopts Newspeak to sell the Con-Con" debunks the Convention of States' (COS) narrative that a convention called under Article V is different than a “constitutional convention.” COS is waging a semantics war by using the term "convention of states" to imply that an Art. V Convention is controlled from start to finish by State Legislatures. We're all talking about the same thing—a convention called by Congress under Article V of the US Constitution. Any convention dealing with drafting or amending a constitution is a constitutional convention. "COS Board Member shows that an Art. V Convention (A5C) can result in a new Constitution" (flyer) highlights the fact that Convention of States (COS) board member Robert P. George has already co-drafted a new constitution that grants massive powers to a new federal government & imposes gun control with red flag confiscations! It shows why an A5C provides the opportunity, under the pretext of seeking amendments, to replace our Constitution and its ratification process.
Still More Talking Points 1. An Article V Convention is controversial and causing a split in our party. Republicans could be working together on important issues instead. Please delete Plank #37 from the Party Platform! (This can be included, in your own words, with any other talking point.) 2. Ratification by 3/4 of the states is not a safeguard against a runaway convention. Delegates to the Convention can change the ratification process and make it easier as they did when they set a precedent in 1787. Under the Articles of Confederation, all 13 states plus the Continental Congress were required for ratification. Yet only 9 states were sufficient to ratify our current Constitution. See Article VII. 3. A vote to keep plank 37 is a vote for gun control and a runaway convention. The subjects of the Convention of States' applications sound good, but the convention can't be limited to those subjects. Gavin Newsom and George Soros also want a convention for their purposes. The entire Constitution would be up for grabs at a convention. 4. Glenn Beck reversed his support for the Convention of States saying, "We are not the people to open up this sacred document." 5. Congress has never called a convention under Article V. No one knows what will happen! 6. Convention of States tells you that states control Delegates, but a government official cannot be prosecuted in the official execution of his duties. Do you trust the 60 Republicans, who voted to impeach Paxton, to select and manage delegates to a convention with the power to rewrite our Constitution? 7. The Constitution isn't the problem! It needs to be enforced, not amended! Thank you for defending our Constitution! | 
