What does it mean to be an American citizen? Well, in most cases, you're born here. Even if your parents aren't American, thanks to an extremely liberal interpretation of the 14th Amendment, you can be an American simply by being born on American soil. If you're not born here, we have an extensive, albeit somewhat inefficient, system for becoming a citizen. I've seen the process, helped people take the test, and shared their pride as they were sworn in as citizens. You have to fund the government through taxes, and the means of how the government taxes you outside of the income tax may surprise you. But that's a post for another day. If you're an 18-year-old male, you have to sign up to be drafted into the military should Congress and the President determine our country needs it. Our Founding Fathers set up a nation that does not require you to purchase anything to be a citizen. Well, until now.
ObamaCare, the monstrosity (sorry, Monster) passed against the will of the people through Congressional shenanigans "so we could find out what's in it," has in it a provision requiring all Americans to buy some form of health coverage. Almost before Obama's signature dried, states were filing suit, with that provision at the forefront of their complaint. Liberals argued that RomneyCare, one of the main reasons we (hopefully) will never see a President Romney, had the same provision in order to make it work, so why shouldn't "health care reform" have it?
RomneyCare is Massachusetts' dirty little secret. Stories pop up every few months of the lumbering wreck of RomneyCare stomping its way around the state, killing off insurance companies, state revenue, quality of health care, and the general economy. Yet, because it was touted as a model for the entire nation, the liberal media tries to squelch the body count. All the bugs haven't been worked out yet, we're told, and there were some... "unintended consequences."
Have you ever noticed that liberals' grand schemes never work out as intended? It couldn't possibly be because liberals don't really understand cause and effect, could it? Who could have possibly foreseen that skyrocketing the cost of having a health care insurance business would make companies shut down and leave? Conservatives, that's who. We warned about the costs of forcing everyone to buy health insurance, and now we have proof of our forecasting, despite the media's desperate attempts at gluing pink fur onto the RomneyCare monster. They'll have things running smoothly in no time, just you wait! Take a pain pill and have a Snickers bar, because you're not going anywhere for awhile.
This provision is necessary, however, for a government takeover of health care. In order for the government to shove private insurers out of the market, they force everyone to be covered, shooting costs upward as the high-risk people who have not been in the market get into it. Private insurers cannot bear the cost of everyone and his cat jumping into the pool (poor, wet kitty!) as well as the constrictions the government places on them in providing health care. And if you think the government can do it better than a private insurer, take a good look at the United Kingdom. In fact, look at our own Medicare as it goes broke trying to keep up with the small swells preceding the large Baby Boomer wave that's about to drown it.
All of this is a distraction, however, from an essential question: Is it constitutional to force Americans to buy something? Push all the cost-benefit analyses aside. Ignore the tales of woe of the uninsured. Tune out the demand for "reform" at any cost. Did our Founding Fathers intend for us to have to purchase something in order to be Americans? Sure, you used to have to be a landowner to vote, but at the time of our founding, it seemed to be fair as they were the ones paying the taxes. They had a vested interest in where their money went. As landownership and taxation expanded, slavery was abolished, and the women's suffrage movement came to pass, we passed laws granting everyone over 18 who wasn't a felon the right to determine our government.
The mandate in ObamaCare that we must all purchase health insurance is not only a step backward, but it seems to stray outside of the Constitution's enumeration of Congressional Powers (Article 1, Section 8). A federal judge in Michigan disagreed on Thursday, using an expansive view of the Commerce Clause found in that section to justify forcing people to buy health insurance because we all use medical care sometime in our lives. Also in the decision was this little gem:
While plaintiffs describe the Commerce Clause power as reaching economic activity, the government’s characterization of the Commerce Clause reaching economic decisions is more accurate.
Pretty harmless, right? It appears he's just analyzing the federal government's view of the Commerce Clause versus the view of the states. But what he's essentially saying is that because we all participate, the federal government can decide for you how the services that we all are going to use eventually are going to be paid for. Even if you're not doing anything but breathing, the federal government wants you to pay for something they think you're going to use. This is terrifying territory for any freedom-loving American, because the government wants to regulate inactivity, not activity.
And that regulatory power is just the beginning. When Congress determines that sugary foods are costing taxpayers millions in health care dollars, what are they going to do about it? Or when Michelle Obama's crusade against childhood obesity reaches its fruition and it's determined that fat kids are costing us all money, what is President Obama going to advocate for? When Congress takes money from Big Pharma (or whatever they're called these days), and Big Pharma is pushing a miracle cure that guarantees to cut costs, what will Congress do? You know the answers to these questions as well as I do.
We're heading for centralized planning for all our health care decisions unless the Supreme Court or the Republicans stop it. Given the Supreme Court precedence that the judge in Michigan cited in his decision, it looks like it's up to the Republicans to listen to the people and kill off ObamaCare for the good of the nation. Will they have the guts to do it?
Excellent post. I sure hope the Republicans have the nerve, and that they get the chance. If the get the chance and don't have the nerve, we'll know what to do come next election.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing--when you go to the big parks, there are signs warning against feeding the wild animals. Why? Because if the animals get used to the handouts, they can become dangerous as they demand handouts from humans rather than hunt their own food.
We see how this works out in Europe and Scandinavia: people are used to the nanny state, and when the nanny state goes broke, the people become dangerous. When will they ever learn?