We must urge our state lawmakers to resist the siren call for an Article V Constitutional Convention. Recently, former Sen. Rick Santorum urged New Hampshire legislators to take part in this ill-advised venture. Fortunately, Common Cause, the American Constitution Society and the prophetic historian Dr. Nancy MacLean have warned about the damage such a convention could cause.

Unlike a Constitutional Convention called by Congress, an Article V Convention has no established procedure or guidelines laid out, not even about who could take part. Ultra-conservatives, such as Santorum and those who brought us Project 2025, have plans for budget requirements which most modern economists feel could lead to economic disaster at the federal level, especially in programs like Social Security. Other supporters would go beyond economic issues, possibly to chip away at the current separation of church and state and to alter such amendments as the 14th, which has helped protect civil rights.

In her book ‘Democracy in Chains,’ Prof. MacLean has pointed out the ways in which U.S. economists Milton Friedman and James Buchanan orchestrated a “trial run” on behalf of Chilean dictator Pinochet to create both a constitution and an economy that benefited the wealthy in ways that could not be undone. They knew full well that, once undemocratic changes get built into a Constitution, it can be very hard to change. Let’s not make the same mistake here in the U.S. and allow ourselves to be sweet-talked into an unprecedented disaster.

A.J. Bowers

Concord