A cogent argument that the health care bill is unconstitutional
Bookworm on Aug 22 2009 at 7:54 am | Filed under: Health
The Washington Post has an excellent op-ed regarding the fact that, this time regarding health care, the Obama administration is once again trampling blithely over the Constitution. After you’ve read the op-ed, you might also want to read Ed Morrissey’s further comments. I particularly like Morrissey’s point about the reason health insurance differs from car insurance, and I’ll tell you why after you’ve read this paragraph:
Most states now require drivers to have auto insurance before issuing drivers licenses, car registrations, or both. However, that doesn’t apply here for three reasons. First, that power rests with the individual states, as they are the licensing authorities and not the federal government. Second, driving is not a right but a privilege, which gives access to state-owned roads in exchange for a demonstration of competence and appropriate safety and insurance preparation, so the state can and does set conditions on that privilege (too many, but that’s an argument for another day). Third, because the insurance is conditioned on that privilege, it only affects a portion of the populace. The states could not demand universal auto insurance on every man, woman, and child in their state.
Those pushing socialized medicine have framed medical care as a “right.” But the Constitution doesn’t give the Feds the power to demand that people fund their own rights. Had these same advocates framed the debate a bit differently, they might not have been backed into that particular corner.
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6 Responses to “A cogent argument that the health care bill is unconstitutional”
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Uh huh, so, if it’s my RIGHT, then where do they get the power to DENY me care when I get too sick, too old, or both? Leaving aside that they have no power to declare HC a right in the first place.
Americans are simply NOT going to put up with this.
“Americans are simply NOT going to put up with this.” And what are Americans going to do about it? When we write or email our “representatives” we are either ignored or told how we don’t know what we are talking about, when we protest, we are called “unAmerican” by one of those so-called representatives, if we “talk” amongst ourselves, we are ridiculed by BO and told to report this “fishy” talk to the government. This HC bill can be passed and probably will be without Americans approval and without Repubs voting for it. Once that happens, the chance of EVER getting it repealed is virtually nil.
> Americans are simply NOT going to put up with this.
Well, Obammie still has the support of about 48% of the country, despite all the missteps. Much of his base remains with him. But you have to wonder, as the economy will continue to falter, and as problems ripple and spread…
A worried Obama supporter sits at his or her kitchen table at 1:15 am, unable to sleep, sipping a cup of hot tea. That vague thread of doubt just keeps worming its way, and cannot be dismissed. A sad frown on the contemplative face. At 1:15 am, Hope And Change seems quite gray. Where is all this heading? None of it seems to be working. “Among all my liberal friends, they’re saying, this will work, the good times are just around the corner,” but you can tell their hearts just aren’t in it. They’re hoping, but they’re so unsure, and all around us, the economy and jobs and inflation and the failed programs… it all just keep getting worse and worse.
It’s 1:15 a.m. on a cheerless night in 2011.
Congress already has a separate but equal healthcare plan. The segregation of the elites from the common class must first be toppled before people can act upon their other political motivations.
I didn’t say it wouldn’t pass.
I said Americans wouldn’t put up with it. You can’t not put up with something that hasn’t happened yet.
Yes, I’ve heard all the stuff about once we have this thing it’s all over. Well, No it isn’t. Will you really give up that easily?
Mike, you say Obama still has the support of 48%. That, my friend, is before a single person has been denied the care he is used to getting for his family; before anyone has been put on a waiting list for surgery that is in fact a death sentence; before being forced to wait OUTSIDE an ER with a bleeding child so that the govt’s statistics won’t show long wait times IN the ER — as DOES happen in the UK.
Enough of us WILL not put up with that. Don’t tell ME that a people that put men on the moon, that conceived, designed, built, and launched the first nuclear powered submarine in 18 months, that cranked up a somnolent population in a Depression to become the arsenal of democracy before WWII can’t roll bunch of bureaucrats back where they came from!
Texas is talking about seceding and they mean it. So are some other states — and all that is BEFORE they start to grind us up in their Health Care Clunker.
No. Americans will not put up with this.
I hope you’re right, Bill.
I would love to see a genuine American revolution occur at the voting booth, where a sea of incumbents are voted out of office.
All Congress has to do to win American support is abolish their own gold-plated health plan, and put themselves under the same plan they’re trying to put the rest of us under. Hey, Congresscritters! If it’s good enough for me, it’s good enough for you!
But our CongressCritters recognize what a nasty, foul mess of a pig this health care plan is. The swine stench of it is overwhelming, and you see them running from it – as it would apply to them – like they little fricking pigs *they* are. Snorting and squealing with terror as they run, our little CongressPiglets have nowhere to turn to right now. Demanding we all surrender to “the public option” they have no intention of surrendering to it themselves.
If they put themselves under it the way they want to put me under it, then I could at least respect them for having the courage of their convictions. Right now, I have nothing but gutter contempt for them.