JBS.org Freedom Campaign - February 2009

 Con-Con Victory in Ohio

Our con-con success in Ohio in December provides an excellent example of just how necessary our online infrastructure has become for winning legislative victories.The entire episode occurred in mid-December while we were putting the finishing touches on the January Bulletin. Although we could have added a last-minute note about the Ohio balanced budget amendment resolution requesting Congress to call a constitutional convention (con-con), it would not have affected the outcome because the key committee hearing was on December 10 — too late for members reading the January Bulletin to respond.

Soon after the con-con resolution was introduced in the Ohio Legislature on December 3, key Ohio members worked with both Field and HQ staff by phone and email to determine what the best educational tool would be. It was determined that our Beware Article V video (view for free on YouTube; go to ShopJBS.org to buy DVD as low as $0.70 each for distribution to state legislators and an audio version on CD for an additional tool) was the best educational tool. It turned out that one of our staff members had already uploaded this video to YouTube early in 2008, so it was ready to use to educate members, allies, and state legislators for free via the Internet.

Since there was a key committee hearing on the resolution on December 10, Chapter Leader Robert Owens used our new blog capability on JBS.org to create grassroots pressure on key Ohio legislators and to invite people to show up at the hearing and testify in opposition. Our members also utilized a whole variety of non-JBS online websites and forums to rally opposition to the resolution. In addition to Robert, the effort was ably conducted by Assistant Chapter Leader Teri Owens (see, "Member of the Month"), Mike Tomaso, Gabe McGranahan, Frank Koch, Fred Bender, other members of Chapter DPAK in Delaware County, Ohio, Central Columbus JBS chapter leader Joe Healy, JBS Council member Dr. Paul Leithart, and many allies, as well.

Long story short, many of our members and allies showed up at the hearing, all 10 testifying in opposition to the con-con resolution. As a result, the resolution was never brought to a vote by the full Ohio House and Senate in December. Unfortunately, a con-con resolution will be re-introduced in Ohio in 2009, so the fight will continue. And you can be sure that online communications and educational tools will play a major role in the battle's outcome.

Don't think the con-con fight will be confined to Ohio alone this year. Already in mid-December a Republican state senator in Virginia announced that he'll be introducing a balanced budget amendment con-con resolution in early 2009. And, now as I'm writing this in mid-January, a member in Georgia has alerted me to expect a con-con resolution in that state soon. I expect some other states will have con-con resolutions as well. And members in several other states are planning to work on getting their states to rescind all of their previous con-con calls. So this should be a busy year on the con-con front.

"Going on Offense" at the State Level in 2009

Given the makeup of Congress in 2009, our chances for getting constitutionalist measures passed in the House and Senate are poor, although we will certainly continue to promote the introduction and passage of sound legislation. However, due to our enhanced online social networking capabilities, our chances for playing an important role in creating grassroots opposition to amnesty, global warming, universal healthcare, and other stock bills in the establishment's playbook are excellent. Still, this means we would be reacting primarily defensively at the congressional level this year.

Nonetheless, in 2009 we will be "going on offense" at the state legislative level. There are several reasons for this:

• We've had a lot of success at the state level over the years, such as stopping the ERA, blocking a con-con, stopping the Conference of the States, and building support for blocking the NAU;
• We have several attractive nonpartisan issues to work on at the state level in 2009, such as restoring sound money, blocking a con-con, blocking the NAU, repealing the Real ID program, blocking the ammunition accountability campaign, and fixing illegal immigration; and
• We have added to our online infrastructure this year the capability to provide pre-written, editable messages for our members and allies to use in contacting their state legislators about specific bills.

As for prioritizing your work on state issues, consider our "Restore Our Freedom and Prosperity by Restoring Sound Money" campaign as top priority unless a con-con resolution needs to be defeated in your state. Passage of our model Sound Money Resolution by state legislatures as a way of creating pressure on Congress to restore sound money is surely needed very much in light of what's happening to our economy and the inflationary steps being taken by the Federal Reserve. This Sound Money Resolution initiative also fits perfectly with our extensive "Dollars & $ense" speech tour by John McManus.

Preserve our American life of freedom and prosperity for your family and yourself by coming to our JBS.org Freedom Campaign webpage (http://www.JBS.org/freedom) and getting involved in one or more campaigns described there. Many states have short legislative sessions this year, so be sure to get involved in state campaigns right away.

Action Summary:

Visit http://www.JBS.org/freedom and get involved in one or more of the campaigns described there. Join the online community to interact with others to defeat con-con issues and pass sound money resolutions.