Call today about AB 751: Elimination of Electoral College Bill - Correction

Have you heard about this new bill in Madison, AB 751, The National Popular Vote Bill? I doubt that you have unless you listen to Vicki McKenna or WVCY. The Public Hearing is today.

But don't feel like you have been asleep at the wheel, the bill was only just introduced 2 days ago on Monday, Feb. 15, 2010. Also on Monday, they announced the Public Hearing for today, Wednesday, Feb. 17th at 1pm.

Think they are trying to ram this one through below the radar? (I heard Vicki mention it yesterday. She also talked about it today in her first 45 minutes. Do listen to the first hour for Wed. Feb 17. I then Googled the bill number and found WVCY's Homefront blog page on it.)

The actual bill proposes "entering into an agreement among the states to elect the president of the United States by means of a national popular vote."

Now at first blush, that might not seem like a bad idea, to just count the popular vote. But think about it. If popular vote alone decided elections, the most population dense states would dictate who our president is. The top 3 states being California, New York and Texas. Urban areas would decide for us all. Even if you factor in the top 10 states, like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, etc. Wisconsin is still not a player. So what about the other 40 states in the Union?

If this change goes through, why would any presidential candidate bother coming to Wisconsin?

An even more insidious aspect of this bill is that it calls for a Constitutional Convention (CORRECTION: it doesn't, but it does sidestep the Constitution amendment process. See bottom of post.) to make the change from the Electoral College to Popular Vote. (More on that below the legislator info.)

CALL YOUR SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE! Find your State Legislator
Ask them how this would help Wisconsin residents have any voice in presidential politics?

Brookfield's Representatives: Rich Zipperer (608) 266-5120 and Leah Vukmir (608) 266-9180

List of Representatives on the Committee of Elections and Campaign Reform: (From Homefront)
Rep. Jeff Smith (Chair) 1-888-534-0093

Rep. James Soletski (Vice-Chair) 1-888-534-0088

Rep. Fred Kessler 1-888-534-0012

Rep. Annette Polly Williams 1-888-534-0010

Rep. Kelda Helen Roys (608) 266-5340

Rep. Jeff Stone 1-888-534-0082

Rep. Donald Pridemore 1-888-534-0099

Rep. Roger Roth 1-888-534-0056

Counting only the popular vote flies in the face of the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, who realized they had to balance the influence of densely populated states with those of less population. That is why we have a House of Representatives, whose membership is based on population, balanced by the Senate, that gives every state the same number of representatives. In a similar way, the Popular Vote is balanced by the Electoral College.

As I mentioned above, this bill would call for a Constitutional Convention (Correction: it doesn't but sidesteps the Constitutional amendment process) to make the change from the Electoral College to Popular Vote.

I still remember my high school American History teacher's warning about Constitutional Conventions. (My opinion on this goes way back!) She cautioned that once they are called, anything goes; it is all open to change, even the Bill of Rights!

This is what Eagle Forum says about Con Cons or Constitutional Conventions (Read the whole piece, it is worth your time. My emphasis is in red): "The trouble with a Con Con is that there are no rules in the Constitution or in any law to limit a Con Con's purpose, procedure, agenda, or election of delegates. Congress has repeatedly rejected bills to establish rules or procedures. There is no way to control a Con Con in advance or to require it to consider only one subject. The Article V provision that authorizes the calling of a Con Con refers to considering "amendments" (note the plural)."

I am trying to find the exact quote* about calling a Constitutional Convention, but it went something like this: Why would I exchange the wisdom of our Founding Fathers for those in the Congress today? Can you imagine Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in charge of a Constitutional Convention? They can't even stick to our written Constitution. Make those calls!

UPDATE: This afternoon, I spoke to Diana Cieslak of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (she is DianaC in comments). She said that National Popular Vote doesn't call for ANY change to the Constitution, but it does sidestep the traditional Constitutional amendment process. The theory is that eventually the Constitution would need to be amended if enough states adopt this measure.

She also said that if enough states, totaling 270 electoral votes adopt National Popular Vote, then the Interstate Compact clause in the Constitution would go into effect and they could agree to a National Popular Vote winner, usurping your state's popular vote regardless if your state passes this or not--italics are my words.

Diana directed me to a piece she wrote last year: Electoral College or NPV It answers a lot of questions about the Electoral College and National Popular Vote.

Save Our States Director, Trent England, was in Madison today talking to legislators about the dangers of NPV.

More reading: Save Our States: "Wisconsin would lose big time!" under National Popular Vote
Badger Blogger: Not just no...
Don't Knock the Electoral College
Beware of Attacks on the Constitution
Proposed Legislation Can Circumvent Vote of Wisconsin Residents

*Mark Levin, a Constitutional Lawyer, mentioned that quote some weeks ago.

NOTE OF INTEREST: I was curious about kohler's many l-o-n-g comments on my Practically Speaking blog, so I Googled kohler National Public Vote. I found many of the same comments with kohler's name on Badger Blogger's piece, Topix - Brattleboro Reformer, Vermont's piece: National Popular Vote is a bad idea that hurts Vermont (on that paper's site it states kohler, Mountain View, CA), and on many others. I guess he really wants this change? I don't know...I just found that interesting.


Links: Practically Speaking, Betterbrookfield, RandyMelchert, Jay Weber, Vicki McKenna, The Right View Wisconsin, CNS News, Mark Levin, Breitbart BigGovernment, The Heritage Foundation

Wisconsin Legislature's last stand - Global Warming, Voter Fraud, RTA - Call now!

This week might mark THE MOST COSTLY week in the Wisconsin Legislature; the week our Representatives and Senators vote on several very controversial bills. Our Legislators are wrapping up their last week in Madison for this session, rapid firing 80-some bills to the floor a day.

Oh, if we could just send them home today!

It is difficult to say which are the worst bills of the lot, but the Global Warming, now called Clean Energy Jobs Bill AB 649 / SB 450 is coming to the Assembly this morning. It is thought there are enough votes to pass the Assembly. This bill is not only costly in terms of increased utility costs for all Wisconsinites, it also will cost our state in LOST JOBS. NO manufacturing company will want to locate or stay in a state that has higher utility costs than its neighbor.

From Brookfield's Representative Leah Vukmir: (My emphasis throughout) "The legislation has been widely panned by business groups representing a large sector of Wisconsin's economy and scholars alike. By going it alone to curb global warming, Wisconsin stands to lose tens of thousands of jobs and increase energy prices for consumers - from the gas at the pump for your car to the natural gas to heat your home."

From Brookfield's Representative Rich Zipperer: "If enacted, this bill will require power companies to invest approximately $15 billion in new equipment, and it will increase their fees by $700 million annually. All of those mandated costs will be passed on to energy users, increasing the cost of electricity for families and businesses. Independent studies have suggested such increases will drive over 40,000 jobs from our state as companies move manufacturing facilities to states with lower taxes and lower energy costs."

In the Senate, passage is not such a sure thing. If you live in Senator Jim Sullivan's District, give him a call: (866) 817-6061. I spoke to the aids in his office last week, and they said he was still reading through the amendments. Some of the Senators, like Senator John Lehman (608) 266-1832 Or (866) 615-7510 are in swing districts and also facing stiff reelection. Call them!

Even worse than the Global Warming Bill, is the Voter Protection Act AB 895 / SB 640. This one has been dubbed the Voter Fraud Protection Act by many.

Rep. Vukmir calls it the Vote Fraud Encouragement Act:

"[A few] weeks ago, a group of Democrats introduced legislation that will discard and rewrite nearly all election law in Wisconsin in favor of so-called reforms to encourage higher voter turnout and address alleged "voter intimidation".The legislation can only result in government-encouraged vote fraud."

"In a letter to legislators, Attorney General, JB Van Hollen said that the legislation would make fraud more likely", because for one," 'It populates the registration list with unregistered voters, increasing the potential for fraud, when our desire should be to have an accurate list that is neither over inclusive nor under inclusive.' "

"Additionally, a last-minute provision added by Sen. Lena Taylor would allow national, not-for-profit, community organizations [like ACORN] to access sensitive citizen information from state databases."

When I stopped in to see Senator Sullivan after last week's TEA Party, his aid Ashley informed me that Sullivan was OPPOSED to this bill. This came as quite a surprise since when I had called the week before, he still was undecided. This change makes me wonder if, like with the State Budget, Sullivan was given permission to vote no, because he is facing stiff competition from Vukmir? Or, are there not enough Senate votes to pass and so no one wants to be seen as supporting if they all aren't supporting? Or, is he truly against it? (I hope it is the latter.)

Anyway, the Voter Protection Act is THE MOST IMPORTANT of all the bills flying through Madison this week. If this passes, I believe it significantly reduces the chances of fair elections and encourages voter fraud.

There is also the RTA, which will add another .05% sales tax to Milwaukee County. Senator Sullivan favors creation of a regional RTA, which would include that .05% tax for Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington Counties too.

Other bills include: Ethanol Mandates, Expanding Hate Crimes, mandating Licensed Dietitians be the only ones who can give aid at a health food store, and my favorite, National Popular Vote.

All we can do at this point is call our Senators and Representatives and tell them to vote NO!
I know we are all weary with all the calling, but hopefully, it is the last week!

Sources: VCY Homefront Legislation pending for the week
Rep Vukmir's Legislative Update
Rep. Rich Zipperer's Taxpayer Alert

Links: Practically Speaking, Betterbrookfield, RandyMelchert, Jay Weber, Vicki McKenna, The Right View Wisconsin, CNS News, Mark Levin, Breitbart BigGovernment, The Heritage Foundation