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2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumTea Party hatches quiet-but-insane plot against democracy: Meet the “12 Percent Solution”
I listened in to a recent conference call with conservative activists. Their latest scheme? Nullify laws they hate
PAUL ROSENBERG
What if there were a fourth branch of government that would allow the fans of Duck Dynasty to overturn Roe v. Wade, repeal Obamacare and pretty much nullify any federal law or Supreme Court decision they dont like, based on the support of as little as 12 percent of the nations population? And what if that fourth branch already existed in the American constitutional order, just waiting to be properly realized?
Thats basically the dream of conservative activist Charles Kacprowicz, as described in a recent conference call with supporters, effectively summing up many of the deepest hopes and fears of right-wing America in the post-Bush era.
The best that we have now is the idea of nullification. But the states right now do not have a provision in the Constitution that allows them to countermand laws, Kacprowicz said. But hes crafted a proposal that would change all that. With this provision, in the Sovereignty and States Rights Amendment, they can countermand it, and they can disallow it when 30 states say lets stop.
Naturally, Kacprowicz had a red meat example close at hand. Obamacare right now has at least 26 states who have already filed lawsuits against the government for imposing on them the tax and the imposition of Obamacare on the states, he continued. Thats already going forward. So you have that right there. We need four more states and Obamacare is history. And so thats the kind of power that this has in this sovereignty amendment.
Kacprowicz isnt presently a leading player, but as this passage shows, he straddles two rising, radical state-level tendencies that the national media have woefully underreported so far: one an explosion of clearly unconstitutional nullification legislation, and the other a growing movement to call a constitutional convention (Kacprowicz prefers amendment convention) to pass a set of conservative dream amendments. Because he provides a uniquely crafted bridge between these two efforts, his ideas could prove significant in the near future.
more
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/16/the_right%E2%80%99s_quiet_but_insane_plot_against_democracy_the_12_solution/
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Tea Party hatches quiet-but-insane plot against democracy: Meet the “12 Percent Solution” (Original Post)
DonViejo
Jan 2014
OP
sharp_stick
(14,400 posts)1. Nullification has been a wet dream
of the racist Governments of the old Confederacy for decades. They've got about as much chance of passing this as a constitutional amendment as they do of producing protest signs containing proper spelling.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)2. Fine. We can countermand laws against abortion, gay marriage, and pot.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)3. The Baggers also want voting restricted to property owners ONLY...
white, old, wealthy, Republican land owners, of course.
sakabatou
(42,146 posts)4. *facepalm*
Nullification is illegal anyway.