In 2023, Congress shows no evidence of “fiscal responsibility”, that notion is old news, history. It is a joke. Congress is supposed to use “the power of the purse” to negotiate deals and promote the best interest of “We the People.” They have the power to shut down the government, if necessary, but they are not using it. Now they use the “power” of the printing press, the omnibus bill, the blank check, and the empty promise of fiscal responsibility to get re-elected. That is what Congress is all about today, getting re-elected.
Is this working? No, our current National debt is $31.4 Trillion and growing fast. In 2021 the gross domestic product of the United States was $23.3 trillion. By the way, a trillion is a million million. We pay interest on this debt but have not touched the principle in forever. Interest rates on that debt are going up. This is a recipe for disaster. The last time we paid off the national debt was 1835.
Are we addressing the issue at hand? In a word, no. Revenues received by the federal government in 2021 were $4 trillion, of which $2 trillion was from individual income taxes. The federal government spent $6.8 trillion for the fiscal year 2021. Does that number include interest on the debt? I am afraid to ask.
In other words, we are broke, and our federal government is “fiscally irresponsible.” We are feeling some pain now, especially at the pump and the grocery store, but our kids and grandkids are the ones that will be paying dearly for this irresponsible behavior.
So, what can we do about it? We can use the Constitution.
Our founders expressly gave state legislators the power to propose amendments through Article V for the purpose of reining in an out-of-control Congress.
The movement to save America has already begun. Find out about it at www.conventionofstates.com.
Scott W. Bates
West Des Moines, Iowa
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