Putting the constitution up for sale.

• Author: Hightower, Jim
• Position: VOX POPULIST

When you think of America's great Constitutional originators, names like Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Washington, Hamilton, and Franklin come to mind. And, of course, Abbott.

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In early 2016, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the multimillionaire protege of the Koch brothers and darling of the American Legislative Exchange Council, revealed to a startled nation that he has penned not one but nine (!) new amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

Forget the Bill of Rights, Abbott is proposing a Bill of Sale, effectively transferring the title of our national government from The People to The Plutocrats. Abbott announced in early December that he is renewing his push for a constitutional convention to implement his agenda. His proposed "tweaks" include outlawing government actions that restrain corporate abuse of workers and consumers, and preventing future Congresses from meeting crucial public needs such as health care, voter rights, and the maintenance of our national infrastructure.

One could call Abbotts Founding Father pretensions ludicrous--which they are--but he's not the driving force behind this diabolical, ideological tampering with our Constitution and our nations ideals of fairness and justice. ALEC, the Kochs, and their corporate cohorts are the real authors of Abbotts Bill of Sale.

Convening an explosive convention, permitted under Article V of the Constitution, is a longtime dream of the elites who seek to establish an American Koch-istan, and ALEC is spearheading a hodgepodge of right-wing groups that--believe it or not--are alarmingly close to succeeding. An ALEC/Koch affiliate with the cumbersome acronym of BBATF (Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force) came out of the Tea Party maelstrom in 2010 and is now aggressively pushing governors and state legislatures to endorse an Article V convention.

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At the convention, they would attempt to rewrite our nations fundamental governing document by adding a balanced budget amendment and other changes meant to enthrone the "moneyed corporations" that Jefferson abhorred as destroyers of America's democratic possibilities.

Absurd? Of course. Even the late Phyllis Schlafly, who headed the right-wing Eagle Forum, called this push "a prescription for political chaos," adding, "Alas, I don't see any George Washingtons, James Madisons, Ben Franklins, or...