Originally published September 15 in the Providence Journal as:

ConCon will let Rhode Islanders break the status quo | Opinion
Mike Stenhouse Guest columnist

Years ago, when I worked with General Assembly leaders of both parties on legislation, I learned how the sausage is made.

Unfortunately for Ocean State families, the priority of our elected officials is not the well-being of “we the people”; nor is it the advancement of opportunities and the preservation of our God-given and constitutional rights.

Instead, politicians are all about preserving their own power: the majority party by appeasing as many special interests as possible, while upsetting as few as it can; the minority party by caving to the majority, trading its values for a few negotiated policy crumbs.

Lost in this political game is anyone fighting for the rest of us. Caught up in their crony and myopic views, these political supremacists fail to see the larger picture − the deterioration of our state. This all-of-government corruption is robbing our children of their futures and destroying opportunities for families to achieve the American Dream.

Who wins and who loses? While special-interest groups win, everyday families lose by being forced to bear the burden. With persistent bottom-five and bottom-10 rankings when it comes to state business climate and family prosperity indexes, the failure of Rhode Island’s agenda-driven governmental approach is clearly evidenced by people who vote with their feet.

As graduates, investors, seniors and entire families continue to flee our shores, Rhode Island suffers from one of the lowest population-growth rates in the country. Yet our political leaders enact policies that continually repel families, rather than attract them and grow our state’s tax base.

Justifiably, Ocean Staters have become disillusioned with our government and the wave after wave of extremist policies that are drowning our hopes for a more prosperous future. My organization’s new #AssaultOnRIFamilies report details the many ways politicians are inflicting harm upon Ocean State families:

Economically: Local inflation, high taxes and soaring energy prices are robbing family budgets.

Educationally: Highly politicized K-12 school curricula have led to falling student achievement and attendance rates.

Culturally: Controversial and divisive racial, gender and political theories directly contravene traditional family values.

Religiously: Intolerance for God, Christians and Jews is fueling hate and public unrest, which often goes unpunished, while restricting our religious freedoms.

Emotionally: The bombardment of age-inappropriate content, often pitting students against their own families, is leading to alarming levels of mental health issues among youth.

More:Fights, filibusters and a poison bomb: RI’s biggest political fight you’ve never heard of

Physically: Harmful school mask mandates, increasing crime and drug abuse, government promotion of transgender surgical and chemical castration, and the erosion of self-defense rights have put family members at literal risk of bodily harm.

Patriotically: The animosity towards America’s founding, as taught in our schools and supported by far too many politicians, and the removal of historical monuments, are creating enemies within.

In short, the three branches of our government are at war with Ocean State families. Our report discusses the stunning depth of government deceit and corruption and how the system they have rigged causes working-class families to suffer.

But there is a fourth branch of government, where voters can take matters into our own hands. By voting to approve the “convention of the people” ballot question this November, important reforms like term limits, an inspector general, or line-item veto could actually be realized via a state constitutional convention.

America’s Declaration of Independence warns that when a “long train of abuses” causes the people to “suffer,” it is the right of the people … “it is their Duty … to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.”

Ocean State voters should keep this “duty” in mind and determine if our current ruling class should be “thrown off” … with “new guards” elected to replace them … and whether to circumvent our failed government via a convention of the people.

Either way, the government’s assault on Ocean State families must end.

Mike Stenhouse is CEO for the Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity.