Desperate Lies of ConCon proponents Exposed

Tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth… that’s the strategy in the playbook of the ConCon proponents selling legislators and voters the idea that the U.S. constitution is broken, and amending it will fix the federal body.

One such group – State Legislators Article V Caucus – speaks for a handful of pro-ConCon political action groups, including Convention of States (COS), and Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force (BBATF).   Attempting to snag any low hanging fruit, they emailed a November newsletter to all state legislators claiming support from one particular person of influence.  Per their newsletter, they claim he has now joined forces with the BBATF to “shepherd the BBA effort to completion”.   This is an outright lie.

Further audacity has been demonstrated by Colorado State Senator Kevin Lundberg.    As Co-Caucus Chair of the website, he refuses to retract the fabrication.

The person of influence is Mr. Gregory Watson, the famed Texan credited with achieving final passage of the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1992, more than 200 years after it was first proposed by James Madison.

Upon learning of the article’s assertions, Watson personally contacted Sen. Lundberg (CO) to request deletion from the website’s November newsletter of the false claim that he offered to help the BBATF.  Within one hour the website was unavailable.  Watson presumed that corrections were being made.  The website was back up late the next day, with absolutely NO REVISIONS MADE to comply with Watson’s request.

In an effort to clarify his position, and to expose the deceptive practices by ConCon marketers, Mr. Watson has issued the following statement:

“I was a bit stunned to read in the November 2017 Newsletter of the State Legislators Article V Caucus an assertion to the effect that I had ‘…offered…services to the BBA Task Force to help shepherd the BBA effort to completion.‘  The afternoon of Thursday, November 2, 2017, someone e-mailed me the link to the Caucus’ November 2017 Newsletter.  That was the first that I had seen of it or had any knowledge of it.  I never made any such offer. For the record–until the afternoon of Thursday, November 2, 2017, when I e-mailed them to request a correction–I had never spoken with, nor exchanged any written communication with, anyone connected with the State Legislators Article V Caucus.  I have requested that the erroneous assertion, quoted above, be deleted and that their November 2017 Newsletter be duly so corrected.  I have never offered any advice to the BBA Task Force on how to ‘shepherd‘ resolutions through any state legislatures.  Whatever such BBA resolutions that have indeed been voted on, and approved, in various state legislatures over the years was accomplished without any involvement from me.”
Friday, November 3, 2017

In election fraud, once the votes are canvased there’s nothing that can be done to correct an invalid count.  Once the goal of 34 state applications for a ConCon are met, there’s little that can prevent Congress from calling a national convention under Article V to open up our constitution to all special interest groups who want their amendments proposed.  Apparently the BBATF is so close to gaining the 28th state of the 34 necessary required for Congress to call a ConCon, they’re employing all deceptive tactics to garner rapid support for state passage of ConCon applications.  They’re gambling that 34 states will quickly pass their BBA applications before the fabricated lies and  veils of deception are lifted and states rescind their current BBA applications.

What’s wrong with a Balanced Budget Amendment?   In May this year, the COS (Convention of States PAC) convinced 156 of 176 Texas legislators to keep our 1977 BBATF application alive by carving it out of a rescission bill which was being debated and finally passed.  That rescission bill killed all previously passed applications for a ConCon from previous Texas legislatures, dating back to 1899.  But, the 1977 BBATF was kept alive under the claim that it supports the “fiscal restraints” clause in the COS application that also passed later that day.

The legislators who support a so-called “convention of states” but not a “constitutional convention” have revealed their practice of deceit. The 1977 BBA applies for a “constitutional convention” 3 times in the bill.   Not only that, but the Texas BBA application is identical to the other 26 BBATF applications.  The application requires “in the absence of a national emergency, that the total of all federal appropriations made by the congress for any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal revenues for that fiscal year” [emphasis added].  The U.S. has been under a constant declared national emergency since 1979, and this BBA would serve to justify all current spending by our Congress, as long as Congress can vote themselves the taxes.

This BBA is useless!  But it will allow the drafting of a new constitution in a ConCon if the BBATF is successful in getting 7 more states to pass their application.

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Gregory Watson, of Austin, Texas, served three decades as a state legislative employee at the Texas State Capitol Building. He is internationally-known as the “step-father” of the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which had been pending before the nation’s state lawmakers since the year 1789. In 1982, Watson breathed new life into it and, a decade later, in 1992, it formally joined the Federal Constitution as its 27th Amendment, albeit 202 years tardy. Recognized as an expert on the U.S. Constitution’s Article V, Watson remains a resident of Austin and he continues to be engaged in civic activities locally, statewide and nationally.