Why do we care if a petition signer or supporter opts in to receive COS emails? They already showed their support of COS when they signed the petition. What more do we need? The answer to that question really comes in two parts.
First, many petition signers believe signing the petition is the magic bullet that will bring about the amendments convention. Nothing could be further from the truth. The magic bullet is knowledgeable legislators that are willing to fight for an amendments convention as described in Article V.
That's where we can be the heroes.
The petition is important to inform our legislators that we want them to pass the Convention of States resolution. But to get to the point of having knowledgeable legislators, it is up to us to invest time on the Convention of States website learning to answer the objections that will be thrown our way. When we are prepared with the facts, we will convince our legislators that we have a solid plan for a solution as big as the problem.
The last thing we want to do is confront the lies the legislators have been hearing from our opponents with false information. The facts are on our side. We can stand firm against any opposition. Opting into the COS emails equips us with the latest information, news, and resources to win.
A caveat is very important here. Do not wait until you are sure you can rebut all arguments a legislator may offer for his current position. “I don’t know; I’ll look it up and get back to you” is a perfectly good response to any question. You have an entire team on your side eager to help. The legislator will read your sincerity as positive.
On the other side, most intelligent people will be able to quickly figure out when you are just making it up as you go along. In that case, you will have done more harm than you may be able to recover from. The point in all this is to win the legislator over to being an active COS supporter so we can pass the resolution in our state.
Secondly, most petition signers are under the false impression that once we are successful in holding an amendments convention, writing solid proposals, and then getting them ratified by three-quarters of the states, we have met our goal. Although that is a major milestone, it is not the end of the journey.
Amendments that move power back to the states is just the beginning. Our goal is to develop the most educated, active grassroots army the world has ever known. The purpose of that grassroots army is to be a watchdog of what our federal government is up to.
To see why this is so important take a look at the Tenth Amendment. “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Heretofore, we have been asleep at the switch.
We have let Congress and the federal courts slowly take unconstitutional power by allowing them to write regulations by unelected bureaucrats. They have been writing regulations to ensure the appointed agency can function within the broad guidelines set up by Congress.
Unfortunately, since the agency was established by Congress, these regulations carry the full force of a law as if they were passed by Congress. Ga-zing! Power is slowly seized by the federal government without Congress ever taking a vote. These regulations should have been just guidelines for the agency’s operation until Congress votes to approve them and gives them the force of law.
My point is that we have to get the convention called, we have to propose good amendments, and we have to get them ratified. Anything short of that is failure.
But we also have to commit for the long haul. It has taken the elitists over a hundred years to get to the point where they believe they have the upper hand in shredding our Constitution to a meaningless bunch of gibberish. It is not going to be an easy battle to regain the control our Founding Fathers forged for us.
Once we get there, we darn sure do not want to let them reverse the trend and let them do it again. Our grassroots army needs to remain vigilant. The elitists will be on the lookout to take advantage of any chink in our armor. You can take that to the bank! We need to stand together. Opting in is one way we can make the connections to advance this movement.
If you haven't opted in yet, please click here to link arms, and stay on the cutting edge of Convention of States.
