Columbus mayor appears on MSNBC’s ‘AM Joy’

In a national television appearance Sunday morning, Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson said the country is moving closer toward an Article V constitutional convention.

Tomlinson was a guest on MSNBC’s “AM Joy.”

Along with Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Tomlinson was interviewed by journalist host Joy Reid.

Tomlinson, who has written on the subject for the “Daily Beast,” an online news site, explained that it takes two-thirds of state legislatures to call for a constitutional convention. That is 34.

“We are on the doorstep of this actually happening,” she said.

Tomlinson said 28 states are already on board, having passed a measure toward that goal.

Tomlinson said, in her judgment, four states, South Carolina, Kentucky, Montana and Idaho, will follow suit in the near future.

According to Tomlinson a “full battle” will then take place in Minnesota, Virginia and Maine to get the other two states needed.

She said conservative supporters of this move are saying it is only about a balanced budget amendment and nothing more.

Tomlinson said that is not the truth, that it is all about limiting federal power. She said the balanced budget amendment is a “great marketing moniker.”

“It sounds great like something we should be doing, do the dishes, do the laundry, balance the budget,” she said.

Greenstein said on Sunday that a balanced budget amendment would be disastrous, putting many people out of work and would harm social programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Greenstein said many economists, including conservatives, say a balanced budget amendment would be “one of the worst things you could do.”

“The implications would be severe,” he said.

This was the third time Tomlinson has appeared on the national broadcast. In April, 2017 she appeared to give insight on the Georgia congressional race between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff and in October debated Republican Tom Coburn on the same issue she addressed Sunday.

On the October show, Tomlinson said Coburn and conservatives want to make the states supreme and would like to change the constitution so “states can reject federal laws they don’t care about.”

This story was originally published January 7, 2018 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Columbus mayor appears on MSNBC’s ‘AM Joy’."