The Heart of Convention of States

Having covered the individuals currently pursuing a Convention of States (COS), the funding behind it, and how those funders are connected, it became clear that at the center of it all was Tim Dunn. He has been a busy boy in Texas when looking into his background, and there is reason for major concern. While this information appears to hold the values of what many Idahoans want, critical thinking is needed to understand the full picture.

Tim Dunn lives in Texas, is a billionaire, and a Christian, making his money from the oil industry. Over the last several years his political activities in Texas are well documented. By some accounts he has been building a “political machine” using his money to create a network of organizations, as have been documented in previous articles.

As quoted in Forbes, “I view investing in politics as a philanthropic exercise. I pay dues to lobbyists to prevent bad regulation.” Also according to Forbes, “…in 2010 he cofounded Citizens for Self-Governance, a project to revise the U.S. Constitution”, in which Convention of States is its project. In reviewing his many activities, it became clearer that revising the Constitution is exactly what he wants to do beyond balanced budget or term limit amendments. Moreover, as previously discussed, it is the “limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government” language that is the most threatening. The Constitution already defines enumerated powers. His influence has been far reaching in both politics and his ambition to change the Constitution.

The Fiscal Responsibility Index, a non-profit chaired by Dunn, is a scoring system, assigning a number to each lawmaker based on how they vote, and is used to determine who should remain in Dunn’s favor. The higher the score, the safer it is for the lawmaker with a clear message, “…if you don’t vote the way we tell you, we’re going to score against you,” Is this threat also being laid upon Idaho legislators? Perhaps this scoring system has already been applied in Idaho given the money that was used previously to target one legislator and support others. Buying politicians also buys the policies.

This election interference by COS also happened in Montana, Wisconsin, and South Dakota. Along with his friend Farris Wilks from the infamous Wilks brothers associated with Idaho, both have poured money into the election process and influencing policy decisions that are rightfully the responsibility of citizens. In Texas, he used his money towards ousting lawmakers who didn’t vote his way.

His desire to replace the education system with all Christian schools might be widely accepted by many, but is clearly a violation of the 1st Amendment. However, could this be a hint for his desire to hold a convention for other reasons than what is presented by Convention of States Action?

Sitting on the corporate 501(c)(3) America First Inc (America First Policy Institute} board is Mr. Dunn as Director, along with Larry Kudlow and Newt Gingrich as Vice Chairs. Brooke Rollins, playing a former role in the Trump administration, serves as President and CEO. This non-profit was also influential in the previous Trump campaign and appears to be gearing up for a new Trump administration with a set of issues for policy already in place, He has donated to several non-profits with similar causes.

Mr. Gingrich describes this non-profit as “taking on the left”. But when looking at all of Mr. Dunn’s activity it appears more the ideological beliefs of one man who has the money to buy politicians and influence policy. Again, this is a direct violation of the Republic’s foundation. None of it follows the Constitution as originally written, this isn’t how the process works. Indeed, the Constitution would probably have to be profoundly changed to accommodate his ideals. 

“Dunn calls himself a proponent of self-governance”. Self-governance is different than consent of the governed. All of his activities are the antithesis of what self-governance means. He is a founding board member of Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG) which is led by Mark Meckler. It could safely be said the whole purpose of the Conventions of States project is changing the Constitution to align with the ideals of Mr. Dunn and he has put into place the mechanism to do it.

While Mr. Dunn claims that Marxism believes religion and politics don’t mix, it was actually our Founders who separated religion out from government in the 1st Amendment. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”…”forbids Congress from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting an individual’s religious practices.” He also states Marxism defines religion as no beliefs other than theirs, when there is strong evidence that is exactly what he is promoting, Christian religion for all. It isn’t clear where he obtained his degree in theology. He also believes it is “government’s job to execute wrath on evil…something God appointed it to do”. 

Mr. Dunn has views on the criminal justice system, having “spawned a national movement called “Right on Crime.” This organization “is a national campaign of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in which Mr. Dunn is a Vice Chair, and has an Idaho Chapter that influences legislation. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of his talk comes at the end when he talks about loving one another and not exploiting others, when it is clear he assigned himself as judge and jury by using his money and front men to do his dirty work in attacking political candidates.

What can only be described as acting like a megalomaniac, Mr. Dunn has used his wealth, influence, and in some cases threats, to spread his wrath across many states, including Idaho, to change our Constitution. 

This information may stir different emotions in different people. Some may welcome the values Mr. Dunn espouses, others may have concern over the tactics he uses in order to sway our Republican form of government. Mr. Dunn is trying to use the available tool in the Constitution with Article V. However, it is the other ways in which he operates that are the bigger concern and just how much depth there is to his values that could possibly open up our Constitution to harm. His demonstrated ability at influencing politics could just as easily occur should a convention be held. Do Idaho legislators want to be held to the dictates of Tim Dunn under the threat of defeat?

Should Mr. Dunn have the privilege of reading this information, he deserves to have a word of caution. His self-driven and sanctimonious ideology is the antithesis of self-governance, and he needs to go back and read every document written by the Founders. Mr. Dunn is distorting the very point on which our Republic was built, that government is only by the consent of the people. He is building it into his own consent. 

Given the history of this one man, his activities of influence in politics, and his antithetic beliefs to our Republic, it is imperative that Idaho rejects any involvement in the Convention of States Action, and should SCR 112 pass, it can be rescinded. South Dakota did it in spite of the COS threat, “This isn’t the last they’ll hear from us.” A warning has already been issued in Idaho.