Talking Points

• Independent constitutional experts (including the Congressional Research Service and a study group of the American Bar Association)[1] say that Article V does NOT define procedures or vote allocation for a convention or give states the authority to define the scope or procedures of an Article V convention. It is quite possible that a convention can “go rogue,” taking up any part of the Constitution that it chooses, including the Bill of Rights.
• This resolution is designed to amplify the voices of smaller states (as in the Senate and Electoral College) by restricting the convention to a one-state-one-vote plan. The position of the LWVUS is that states should be allocated votes based on population.  Contrary to claims of H. 3205 backers, the Constitution is silent on this issue, as on other crucial procedural issues. 
• Claims that delegate oaths will prevent a convention from “going rogue” also fall apart in light of the great powers available to a convention. A convention could decree all such oaths unenforceable. 
• The requirement that state legislatures must approve amendments generated by the Convention is unconvincing protection. A convention would change the rules altogether. If instead the state approval process is followed, it is certain that very wealthy special interests would launch campaigns to pass measures that would serve them well. “Reining in the federal government” makes great sound bites until people find their lives damaged and disrupted.
• The League supports fiscal responsibility and would like to see a balanced budget. However, this should be accomplished by returning taxes on corporations and the wealthy to reasonable levels, not just gutting programs important to everyday citizens. 
• The reason that many of the goals of the proposed convention have not been met by Congress is that they are fundamentally unpopular with the American people. Programs like Social Security, Medicare, and regulation of corporate treatment of consumers, employees, and the environment exist because they are very widely supported, even demanded. 
• There is no guarantee for anyone that a convention would do away with the things they don’t like about the federal government while protecting those that they do. The Bill of Rights could be ended.
• Our politics are currently terribly divided. The process of constituting a convention would add to the turmoil and division in our nation. 
• If a convention is successfully convened, the convention itself and anything it produces will lack essential legitimacy in the eyes of the majority of the public.
• A constitutional convention is a high-risk venture that our nation does not need. At best it is an invitation to decades of costly litigation. At worst it does significant damage to our system of government.