This subject is considered a right-wing dream where it could pass a Balanced Budget Amendment* and/or enact other anti-progressive measures in the Constitution. *Common Cause*, an establishment institution of the political left, over the past ten years, has repeatedly warned of the dangers of a "constitutional convention." George Soros, considered in line with progressive ideals, also has put out word to say *No* to a convention. Hillary Clinton has warned a convention would be taken over by ALEC and/or the Koch Brothers. In fact today, when there are blogposts/on-line editorials about the possibility of a convention, most progressives comment with knee-jerk reactions that it will be bought and controlled by the very corporate interests which control the US Congress now.
But what are we really talking about when discussing a "constitutional convention" or more properly, the Article V Convention?
Where did it come from? In short, the guys who framed the Constitution did not trust each other. Many wanted to shoot each other, as some owned slaves while others thought such is an abomination to creation.
A few days before they adjourned from drafting the Constitution, one of the delegates pointed out that the only way to add protections to the governing document was through the Congress, and asked, What if Congress becomes the problem? So a clause to propose changes was added for when politicians would not. Article V is a single sentence long and spells out clearly, that either Congress can propose amendments for change, or, if the states apply for a convention in sufficient number, the Congress calls it, and state delegates propose ideas. Whichever mode of proposal--Congress or the Article V Convention--each proposal must then survive the crucible of ratification; each proposal must have 75%+ of the states in agreement (seventy-five percent is a political principle which means that whatever the idea--conservative or liberal--it must have all one side of the political spectrum signed on, plus at least half the other, or it goes to the dustbin of history where thousands of other failed amendment proposals).
If anyone has been paying attention to politics over the pasty twenty-five years, you ought to know what the writing on the wall has been saying: Congress no longer acts in the interests of the people. Predatory debt is a symptom, not the problem, and history says it has an inevitable conclusion if not remedied.
I've been on this issue for twenty years, including political and legal activism. A group I co-founded, FOAVC (Friends of the Article V Convention) is recognized in the link below, which is a report by the *Congressional Research Service* detailing what the Article V Convention is, and where it stands. It even says in the frontispiece that in this social media day and age, if enough Americans want a convention of the states, in order to propose what Congress will not or cannot, it will be called. If progressives working against predatory debt spent as much time advocating for the Article V Convention, the Congress will indeed call it. In fact it has been posting PDF files of state applications on the website for the Clerk of the House of Representatives for the past four years. Congress is very aware of this issue even though it is never discussed.
So let's have a discussion about it here. Please read the following link, and tell us what you think. It might seem too overwhelming a subject and/or issue to champion, but I can tell you we are close. In fact just knowing the possibility exists, and that it is in no way dangerous to anyone but corporate interests, actually matters. Once a tipping-point of any society becomes aware, it automatically spills over into the population at large.
Things have gotten so off track with the latest President, that people from all political persuasions are wondering if we can do better. If we can, we must enter into the process of holding our first non-binding deliberative assembly of state delegations. Congressional Records already show the states have legally satisfied the clause, so it's not a matter of state campaigns for a convention, all that's required is a tipping-point of Americans unafraid to formally discuss amendments the Congress never will.
Congressional Research Service: http://www.foavc.org/reference/R44435_20171115.pdf
*Regarding the Balanced Budget Amendment, it has never received even 50% approval in polls. The US Constitution Center did a poll on it last year and it received 43%–far, far away from 75%. Americans would never ratify such, but they would ratify electoral reforms to transform legislators into public servants.