Guyanese Online

Keep a wary eye on the push for a constitutional convention

By MOHAMED HAMALUDIN

At their annual meeting last weekend,  the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization that brings together Republican lawmakers and corporate lobbyists for common causes, discussed plans to hold a constitutional convention, which would be the first since 1787. Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides for such a gathering once two-thirds of the states agree; proposed amendments must be ratified by three-fourths of the states.

Today, that means that 34 states must agree to hold the convention. The Guardian’s James Lartey reported  that 28 already do so.  Tom Coburn, a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma who retired from the Senate in 2015 and is now a senior adviser to a group called Convention of States, predicted that it is “three or four years away” and 2.5 million volunteers are on stand-by.           Continue reading →