“THESE are the times that try men's souls….Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
These are the words of Thomas Paine, penned on December 19, 1776, and read to Washington’s troops on December 24, 1776, before the crossing of the Delaware River. These words helped inspire the American troops to victory in the Battle of Trenton. They can inspire us as well.
Our Problem
Illinois is facing trying times, more so than in almost any period since its founding in 1818. We are faced with federal mandates that take decisions out of the hands of Illinois lawmakers, D.C. bureaucrats and legislators who take office and never leave, and unchecked spending leading to federal debt of $34 trillion and counting.
Unless someone intervenes, our children and grandchildren will be enslaved to federal debt and overburdened by regulation, unable to enjoy the freedom to build their own lives as self-governing citizens of a sovereign state.
The problems Illinoisians face go far beyond the red and blue lines of political leanings. It will take our state legislators, acting as one, to bring about the solutions.
Our Solution
The solutions to these problems are offered by our founding fathers in the U.S. Constitution, specifically, Article V, which allows for a Convention of States to propose amendments that can heal the ills of our nation.
In this era of partisan division, it is hard to find any political movement supported by both sides of the political aisle. Yet surveys show bipartisan support for our Article V application. In fact, about two-thirds of all voters nationwide agree with our goals.
For the 5.4 million supporters of the Convention of States, the plan is clear: support 34 states in calling a convention to propose constitutional amendments that will limit federal power, mandate fiscal responsibility, and impose term limits. We aim to use the very solution provided by the U.S. Constitution. By taking the lead in this movement, Illinoisans can restore authority to the states where it belongs.
We must not shrink from the effort to secure the future of Illinois and of our country.
The soft tyranny that is crippling our nation will not be easy to conquer, but as Tomas Paine wrote in 1776, “…the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
Physicians for COS
The diagnosis is clear.
We have a growing cancer today known as the Obamacare. As a result physicians are no longer free to practice medicine.No profession feels the full force of the federal government more than physicians. The medical profession is the most highly regulated profession in the United States. The practice of medicine is controlled, taxed, and regulated to the point of being destroyed by the heavy hand of the federal government.
Physicians are told how to bill, how much to charge, and how to treat patients. They are mandated to use expensive electronic medical records. The federally enacted HIPPA (Health Information Privacy and Portability Act) makes the communication between physicians and atients burdensome, inefficient,and expensive. Every physician is required by federal mandate to register with the government to obtain an NPI (national provider identifier.) We are required by federal law to obtain and pay for a license to prescribe medication through the DEA, which is separate from our state licensure.
This heavy hand of government not only oversees the largest federal health bureaucracy ever created, but by extension reaches into every state, every city, and every small town to regulate how every licensed physician practices the art of medicine and how citizens obtain care.
The treatment is also clear.
The prescription for a cure was written into our constitution by our founders. Article V of our constitution allows for the states to call for a convention of states to limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government through the proposal of constitutional amendments. Physicians should be the strongest supporters of this brilliantly-crafted states’ rights tool placed into our constitution by our founders.
I urge my fellow American physicians to join with me in supporting an Article V Convention of States to take back control of the practice of medicine. It’s the only way that we can return the practice of medicine back to the intimate relationship between a doctor and patient without interference by the heavy hand of a distant, national government.
Jeffrey I. Barke, M.D. Family Physician Newport Beach, CA