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Archive for the Health Care Bill CategoryDemocratic Party News - The Moral Case Against Health Care Reform.24. March 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
Written by: Andrew Foy, MD The greatest expansion of American government and the social welfare state since the Great Society passed the House Sunday night. Opponents recognize that this bill violates the most important principles of American government, and as such, is immoral. In a free society, does one individual’s needs constitute another individual’s obligation to provide? The answer is no; rather, it is the duty of free individuals to decide what and whose needs appear most important to them. In a free society, the individual is of supreme importance and should not to be used as a means to society’s ends. The individual has the right to order his actions and possessions in the manner most consistent with pursuing his own happiness and values. This view is consistent with America’s founding principles. The Declaration of Independence states: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. The above rights are known as “Natural Rights,” and they protect the individual’s right to freedom, autonomy, and self-government — in other words, to take all the actions required to support the furtherance, fulfillment, and enjoyment of one’s own life. They provide no material assurances or particular opportunities to the individual, but rather set conditions that allow the individual to decide what use he shall make of the circumstances in which he finds himself — to act in his own best interest so long as his actions don’t infringe on the equally protected rights of others. Based on this logic, government programs that involuntarily transfer or redistribute wealth are immoral because they violate the individual’s natural right to order his own actions and possessions. Theft is immoral. Likewise, theft via the government is immoral. Karl Marx and Thomas Jefferson highlight the differences between collectivism and individualism. The philosophy of collectivism regards the individual as a means to society’s ends and is thus immoral, whereas individualism respects the freedom and autonomy of each member of society. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” - Karl Marx, 1875 “A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.” - Thomas Jefferson, 1801 Another important question is: What constitutes a need, and who should decide? Should it be the patient in concert with his or her physician? This seems like the obvious choice. However, if society is paying the cost of whatever service is required to satisfy “the need,” then the provision of that service must be regulated to prevent overutilization and runaway costs. In other words, it must be rationed. In a free market, prices perform this rationing function. In the absence of a free market, some third party must ration based on a formula other than price. Rationing by price is moral because this unbiased mechanism allows individuals to maintain complete freedom and autonomy. A patient who cannot afford a service that he deems a “need” is still free if he can pursue any course of action in order to meet that “need.” Likewise, a provider who feels that his patient “needs” a service is free if he can pursue any course of action in order to provide that service. Some members of society today confuse the concept of true freedom or liberty with the concept of how many options are available to an individual, and this encourages them to advocate for collectivist schemes to help those who may be less fortunate. “[Liberty] describes the absence of a particular obstacle — coercion by other men … the range of physical possibilities from which a person can choose at a given moment has no direct relevance to freedom. The rock climber on a difficult pitch who sees only one way out to save his life is unquestionably free … if [he] were to fall into a crevasse and were unable to get out of it, he could only figuratively be called ‘unfree,’ and that to speak of him as being “deprived of liberty” or of being ‘held captive’ is to use these terms in a sense different from that in which they apply to social relations.” - F.A. Hayek Unfortunately, the only alternative to rationing through price is rationing through the government, and this is immoral because the decision of what constitutes a “need” is made by a third party with no personal connection to the individual or his circumstances. Ultimately, these decisions are made by those with the most political influence — a situation that inevitably breeds corruption. These governing bodies do not respect the primacy of the individual, but rather view the individual as a means to society’s ends. Bureaucrats don’t make decisions about health care according to an individual’s “need” or preference, but rather, they ration resources based on a social-driven calculus. As evidence of this, the health care bill under consideration has a Medicare board of unelected officials to determine the program’s treatment protocols as a method of limiting costs. Posted in Health Care Bill, Socialism In America, President Obama, Democratic Party, Constitution Violations | 25 Comments » Democratic Party News - Health Care Bill: It must be Revealed, Repealed, and Replaced.22. March 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
Below is the opposing view by Jim DeMint: This monstrosity ignores people’s will and violates the Constitution. There’s no fixing the government health care takeover Democrats forced through on Sunday. It must be repealed. After telling Americans in 2008 that they would lower spending, taxes and insurance premiums, Democrats passed a bill that breaks every promise. Using secret deals, kickbacks and carve-outs, Democratic leaders jammed through legislation to control more than one-sixth of the nation’s economy. The plan will explode the national debt, raise $569.2 billion in new taxes, force taxpayers to fund abortions, and impose unconstitutional mandates on every American. All of this was done in the face of overwhelming public outrage and bipartisan opposition in Congress. This process has been an insult to our democracy and threatens our nation’s prosperity and freedom. Government bureaucrats will now dictate the terms of our health care system. Americans must purchase Washington-formulated insurance plans or pay stiff penalties, a requirement that defies the Constitution and is a boon to the insurance companies the Democrats pretend to despise. This plan raids $52 billion from Social Security. It cuts nearly $500 billion from Medicare and doesn’t count the hundreds of billions needed to compensate doctors who treat elderly patients. A portion of this trillion dollar bill is paid for with a government takeover of the student loan industry. The government will shut down private lenders, sell expensive loans to 19 million college students and use the profits to finance “ObamaCare.” It adds millions of people to Medicaid, a failing program that many doctors and pharmacists refuse to participate in. Medicaid won’t do its patients any good if a doctor won’t treat them or a pharmacist won’t fill their prescriptions. Even the bill’s most strident supporters doubt its effectiveness. Many admit to not understanding the bill they voted on. Some voted “yes” out of fear a “no” vote would hurt the president. Americans objected at every turn, peacefully protesting for over a year and begging their leaders not to take away their health care freedom. They asked for common-sense solutions such as buying health insurance across state lines, stopping frivolous lawsuits that drive up costs, and giving the same tax breaks to those who don’t get insurance from employers. Washington didn’t listen. When a president and a Congress collude to violate the Constitution and ignore the American people, everything our nation stands for is at risk. It’s not too late to undo the damage. I, and other Republicans, will work to repeal this monstrosity, and give Americans freedom to make their own health care choices. Sen. Jim DeMint is a Republican from South Carolina. Posted in Health Care Bill, Socialism In America | 16 Comments » Democratic Party News - The Health Care Bill was forced through and passed on Sunday.22. March 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
The House members spent most of Sunday voting on the health care reform bill, and our Democratic Party representatives in Washington barely won with a handful of “yes” votes needed to get it passed. Our Democratic Party representatives in Washington were greeted Sunday by protestors outside the Capitol condemning the bill. People all across this country realize this is a bad bill and they put the pressure on every Member of Congress to oppose it. The debate on the house floor was intense. Beyond the issue of abortion, there are parts of this bill that are good, including making health insurance affordable for the uninsured. On the other hand, many parts of this bill cause great concern, like telling people they must buy health insurance or be fined, cutting Medicare by more than a half-trillion dollars, increasing taxes and forcing businesses to provide health insurance to their employees. People all across this country realize this is a bad bill and they put the pressure on every Member of Congress to oppose it. The House passed the measure 219-212, with every Republican voting against it. Below is the list of the courageous and honorable Democrats who voted against the health care bill. John Adler – New Jersey, 3rd District Posted in Health Care Bill, Congress, Socialism In America, WakeUp America, Constitution Violations, Democratic Party, Politics | 15 Comments » The Obama Democratic Party Health Care Bill vs. States’ Rights.19. March 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
The movement against the Obama Democratic Party health care bill is on a roll. Idaho gov. signs first executive order requiring state to sue federal government if health care passes. Posted in State Sovereignty, Health Care Bill, Democratic Party, Constitution Violations | 2 Comments » Democratic Party News - ObamaCare is Tyranny, Not Legislation.18. March 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
By Janice Shaw Crouse What we’re seeing in Washington, D.C. is not “politics as usual” with the arm twisting and “horse trading” that is typical in getting a bill passed; instead, it is ideological warfare. What Obama, Reid and Pelosi are doing is not legislating; it is an act of tyranny — overturning all the rules and principles of government in a representative democracy. Attempting to pass the Senate version of ObamaCare in the House under the ironically named “Slaughter Rule” (to circumvent the objections of the Stupak coalition to taxpayer funding of abortion) is an exercise in raw power akin to the many acts of judicial tyranny the American public has endured over the last 40 years from judges who have little regard for the Constitution. Apparently Obama, Reid and Pelosi aren’t worried about losing control of Congress in 2010 or even the presidency in 2012, because their higher goal is to irrevocably institutionalize their ideology. Once government control of health care is established, their leftist principles will be implemented by an unelected bureaucracy that rules without accountability to the general public, whether or not the Democratic Party is the majority in Congress or holds the presidency. Obama, Reid and Pelosi have learned nothing from history; they are as blind to their own tyranny as were King George and the British Parliament. They show no comprehension of the moral outrage that will ignite in this country if they ram through ObamaCare, a bill that requires taxpayer funding for abortion, usurps individual rights to choose their own personal health care options, and saddles the nation with a growing flood of debt which will drown our children and grandchildren. Last Friday morning you could see workers beginning to set up barricades around the Capitol in preparation for the demonstrations they expect in response to the Democrats’ autocratic actions. They mistakenly think that the Tea Party protests are temporary flare ups that mere barricades can contain, but their legislative and executive tyranny is unleashing emotions that have the potential to rival the anti-slavery movement of the Civil War era and the Civil Rights protests of the 1960s. Having abandoned those transcendent moral principles upon which this nation was founded for a false ideology of their own imagining, they have no understanding of the righteous fury that will build in this nation when her citizens see their government sanction morally reprehensible acts. Leaders across the nation — nearly half a million strong — have already signed the Manhattan Declaration declaring that moral principles take precedence over laws that ignore the value of human life and individual freedom. These deeply-held religious beliefs are inviolable, non-negotiable, and they are protected under the U.S. Constitution. Thousands of America’s Orthodox, Catholic and evangelical Christian leaders have laid down a gauntlet: By reaffirming the fundamental truth that life and liberty come, not from man-made laws, but from God, we have joined together “to defend the sanctity of life, the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife, and the rights of conscience and religious liberty.” We have, in good faith, expressed our objections and righteous indignation over and over again only to be repeatedly rebuffed and ignored. Poll after poll demonstrates that U.S. citizens are strongly opposed to ObamaCare and its impact on our nation. Yet the Obama/Reid/Pelosi axis is determined to ignore the will of the people that they were elected to represent and to dictatorially impose on the nation their ideas of what’s best. They have lived so long in the rarified air of elitism that they think the “masses” will simply accept their “superior wisdom.” These unprecedented assaults on basic American principles compel Manhattan Declaration signers to forcefully mount a defense of human life, marriage and religious freedom. Manhattan Declaration signers have said that civil disobedience is necessary when faced with gravely unjust laws requiring submission to laws that violate our principled moral beliefs about abortion, marriage, and religious freedom. As the Manhattan Declaration states, “We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.” Posted in Health Care Bill, Church And State, Progressives, Corruption And Lies, Socialism In America, Democratic Party, President Obama, WakeUp America, Constitution Violations | 4 Comments » Democratic Party News - The Government Is About To Crush The Godly.1. March 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
By: Stephen Eichler J.D. Forced Medical Insurance Will Violate The Faith Of Many. Believe me, the poison pill being issued by the Obama National Health-Care Scheme is a forced Governmental mandate on those who by their religious beliefs refuse to use modern medicine. To begin with, forcing a Government run National Health-Care plan upon certain sectors of religious communities is not only blasphemy to some, but is a death knoll to their faith. Millions of U.S. Citizens, exercising their religious rights, refuse to receive or participate in any form of medical treatment because their faith prohibits such practices. In essence, the demand of the Government that all Citizens will obey their edicts is sending shivers of concern throughout some faith communities. Elders, Priests, Clerics and Rabbis view such a Government directive as a definitive crushing of the Godly under the boot heel of Godless totalitarianism. Thus, the liberal autocratic machine is rolling over those they have loudly proclaimed as the ones: “which need our protection.” How easy it seems to the new governmental order to waive the flag of religious freedom for all in one hand while with the other hand it creates devastating laws, which disembowel the individual’s right to religion. They loudly bellow: “we will protect your religion with the full faith and credit of the Constitution” while actually they are destroying the very sacred fiber of our beloved nation. “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Quincy Adams Remember this; it was the yearning for religious freedom, which brought the first settlers here from Europe. Is Plymouth Rock to be quietly bulldozed into the sea? Shall the power of the State simply sweep aside the religious practices of millions of faithful U.S. Citizens in the name, not of GOD, but for the greater good for the greatest number? Paying for the forced government National Health-Care mandate will violate the very souls of those who trust the First Amendment right to freedom of religion and bear in their bosoms a special knowledge of the most high. “Is The State Greater That The Creator?” Minuteman Steve How convenient to say: “We are progressives! We believe in a living Constitution” while recklessly denying the very purpose of the Constitution and the true meaning of who we are as a people. The most powerful force in the world is not a weapon or a nation but a truth… that we are spiritual beings and that freedom is the soul’s right to breathe. What about the Amish, Mennonites, Christian Science, many devout members of the 7th Day Adventists, certain groups in the Church of the Latter Day Saints and other religious organizations? What will they do as their rights are extinguished? How can Religious refugees, who have found sanctuary in America, both Orthodox and Neo-Scientists, come to grips with such an anti-God concept of intrusive secular mandated health-care? The Government will view the religious sector as obstacles to their National agenda of categorizing and numbering everyone including Brothers and Sisters in the faith. KEEP READING Who will be patient 666? Or is it Doctor 666? Will you wear your government medical I.D. bracelet, around your wrist or around your head with your medical chip dangling on your forehead? This is nothing new, this is the same mind-set, which forced the great immigration from across the world to our beloved America. The same stance of shoving aside religious beliefs by an out-of-control government creates a flash-point of ignition setting off another historical Reformation or religious revolt. Make no mistake, when given the choice between God or Country, God is still the winner! Ever wonder why Mr. Obama has insisted that America is no longer a Christian nation? Is it because by making a positive theological statement, he aligns himself with the religious communities and thereby the agenda of National Health-care would be stymied. To top it off, many orthodox zealots from all faiths possess a firm belief that any form of manmade medical practice is blasphemy. While others believe, scripture condemns certain practices such as blood transfusions. At this point, the government run health-care scheme begins to crush the religious rights of those U.S. Citizens who hold true to their core beliefs. Who will stand up for the Amish, who due to their religious beliefs, lack the voice to object? Who will say NO to the Washington beast as it plans to crush Religious disciples, forcing them into unscriptural medical practices, which will damn their souls and destroy their belief system? Who has the gumption to stand up to the machine and say: “Our rights are greater than your demands upon us!” Who shall speak for those who quietly believe in humble practice? Who shall face down the Washington tyrants as they promote themselves to God-Hood? “The usurping of free choice by the disgorging of religious practices all in the name of “The Greater Good” instead of “The Greater God” is profane.” Minuteman Steve What man or woman has the intestinal fortitude to look the beast in the eye and say: “Back to the flames of hell from whence you have crawled!” Is there a man, in America who will stand tall for all those silent believers who are about to be forced to disobey their directive from almighty God and say to the beast: “NO, WASHINGTON, LEAVE US ALONE!” We won’t let Washington force the Godly into a plan that dishonors their faith and their bodies. Is it time for a Holy Rebellion? Will the faithful be forced to say: “We will disobey the Almighty.” Will religious rights be swept under the carpet of the autocratic medical machine as Godless Theocrats plan the “cradle to grave” provisions trampling religious rights and disemboweling eternal principles? Or will the Godly say: We cannot dishonor our eternal directives given to us from the hand of God. We will not allow the Washington horde to mold men and women of faith into their own personal human image. No, We Won’t. And for those who have chosen not to believe in a higher power I say: get in line, saddle up, receive the government medical mark and hope the government finally is right about something. Some of those who read this letter will be offended, while others choose not to believe such tripe, however, what if Minuteman Steve is right? You cannot deny there are some in society who cling to a belief system that does not trust manmade medicine or government run health-care! Do you agree with me… Godly people have the right to believe in their God the way they see fit? It is the responsibility of all U.S. Citizens to protect each others religious rights. I am going to stand with those who have no voice, those religious folk who will never obey the government mandates, who have pledged their souls to a higher power. What about you? I am not asking for a theological belief or endorsement of any religion, just the fact the American people must retain their right to believe what they choose to believe. Furthermore, the government must not force anyone to disobey their personal religious beliefs. Where do you stand? Will you stand with me for those who have no voice? Stephen Eichler J.D. is a Legal Analysis having graduated from Trinity Law School with additional studies in International law. Eichler is also a founding student of Liberty University being personally taught by Jerry Falwell. Stephen Eichler is a business owner for over 30 years and is now dedicating his time to bringing national awareness to issues that challenge the security, sovereignty and domestic tranquility of the United States. He is the President of FaxDC, Executive Director of the Minuteman Project, Inc. led by Jim Gilchrist and Executive Director of the TeaParty.org. Nom de plume: Minuteman Steve Stephen Eichler is represented by Tim Bueler and may be contacted at media@timbueler.com for Radio/TV and Print media bookings. Posted in Church And State, Health Care Bill, Socialism In America, WakeUp America, Constitution Violations | No Comments » Michelle Obama16. February 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
Posted in Michelle Obama, Health Care Bill | No Comments » The Democratic Party Healthcare Process Has Gone Bananas!13. January 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
(Washington, D.C.) - The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today called upon Congress and the Obama administration to open the doors and allow taxpayers to view all of the proceedings related to negotiations over the healthcare reform bill. In response to decisions of the Democratic Senate and House leaders to first bypass the conference and reconciliation phase of legislative process and then to hold negotiations on the final version of the healthcare bill behind closed doors, C-SPAN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Lamb wrote a letter urging an open, televised process. Since then, pressure to open the talks to the public has grown to a fevered pitch. “The 1971 Woody Allen movie ‘Bananas’ includes a comment that accurately describes this entire process,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. “‘It’s a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham.’” “Barring the public from hearing, fully reviewing, and understanding what is being wrought in the healthcare negotiations is manifestly undemocratic and belies the claim that Congress is the greatest deliberative body in the world in the greatest democracy in the world,” added Schatz. “This maneuver invalidates all the lofty rhetoric that was spewed by both President Obama, when he was a candidate, and the House and Senate leadership, who promised to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history. Taxpayers, who have expressed their opposition to this legislation in poll after poll, at hundreds of town hall meetings, in millions of letters and e-mails to their representatives on Capitol Hill have been routinely dismissed, ignored and, now, shut out of the process completely.” The latest decisions made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nev.) follow a pattern that tracked much of the bill’s evolution. In the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Reid crafted the final manager’s amendment behind closed doors with only his staff. The secretive nature of the process reached such ridiculous levels that, at one point, after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took to Senate floor to decry the inscrutability of the process, colleague Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) defended it by saying that even he wasn’t privy to what was being done to the bill. CCAGW is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. Posted in Health Care Bill, President Obama, Democratic Party | 2 Comments » Democratic Party News - President Obama repeatedly has broken his campaign pledge to “broadcast [health care] negotiations on C-SPAN.6. January 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
By now it’s almost trite to complain that President Obama repeatedly has broken his campaign pledge to “broadcast [health care] negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are.” That doesn’t make the complaint invalid. For legislation that could so profoundly and personally affect the daily lives of every American, Congress and the White House should be more transparent and more accessible than ever before. Instead, the process has been secretive and sordid throughout. The House passed its version of the bill on a Saturday night. The Senate held its key procedural vote at 1 in the morning, and then provided a lump of coal in our stockings by forcing full passage of its bill on Christmas Eve. The House leadership banned consideration of all but one amendment not offered by leadership itself - forbidding debate on more than 150 of them - then provided just 24 hours for members to study the bill’s final text. The Senate leadership inserted so many tawdry last-minute items that analysts are still finding jokers in the deck 11 days later. All these shenanigans have driven approval for the government health care bills even lower in public polls than the strong majorities that already opposed them a month ago. Yet that hasn’t fazed congressional leaders. Now comes word from multiple sources that not only will Congress refuse to televise the usual Conference Committee to reconcile the two chambers’ versions of the bill, but it won’t allow a formal conference at all. Instead, a chosen few negotiators will concoct the final version out of sight, without formal rules governing the process and without a single Republican at the table. (The Washington Times) Posted in Health Care Bill, Corruption And Lies, President Obama, Democratic Party | No Comments » Democratic Party News - Why our Democratic Party Health-Care Bills Are Unconstitutional.2. January 2010 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
By ORRIN G. HATCH, J. KENNETH BLACKWELL AND KENNETH A. KLUKOWSKIPresident Obama’s health-care bill is now moving toward final passage. The policy issues may be coming to an end, but the legal issues are certain to continue because key provisions of this dangerous legislation are unconstitutional. Legally speaking, this legislation creates a target-rich environment. We will focus on three of its more glaring constitutional defects. First, the Constitution does not give Congress the power to require that Americans purchase health insurance. Congress must be able to point to at least one of its powers listed in the Constitution as the basis of any legislation it passes. None of those powers justifies the individual insurance mandate. Congress’s powers to tax and spend do not apply because the mandate neither taxes nor spends. The only other option is Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce. Congress has many times stretched this power to the breaking point, exceeding even the expanded version of the commerce power established by the Supreme Court since the Great Depression. It is one thing, however, for Congress to regulate economic activity in which individuals choose to engage; it is another to require that individuals engage in such activity. That is not a difference in degree, but instead a difference in kind. It is a line that Congress has never crossed and the courts have never sanctioned. In fact, the Supreme Court in United States v. Lopez (1995) rejected a version of the commerce power so expansive that it would leave virtually no activities by individuals that Congress could not regulate. By requiring Americans to use their own money to purchase a particular good or service, Congress would be doing exactly what the court said it could not do. Some have argued that Congress may pass any legislation that it believes will serve the “general welfare.” Those words appear in Article I of the Constitution, but they do not create a free-floating power for Congress simply to go forth and legislate well. Rather, the general welfare clause identifies the purpose for which Congress may spend money. The individual mandate tells Americans how they must spend the money Congress has not taken from them and has nothing to do with congressional spending. A second constitutional defect of the Reid bill passed in the Senate involves the deals he cut to secure the votes of individual senators. Some of those deals do involve spending programs because they waive certain states’ obligation to contribute to the Medicaid program. This selective spending targeted at certain states runs afoul of the general welfare clause. The welfare it serves is instead very specific and has been dubbed “cash for cloture” because it secured the 60 votes the majority needed to end debate and pass this legislation. A third constitutional defect in this ObamaCare legislation is its command that states establish such things as benefit exchanges, which will require state legislation and regulations. This is not a condition for receiving federal funds, which would still leave some kind of choice to the states. No, this legislation requires states to establish these exchanges or says that the Secretary of Health and Human Services will step in and do it for them. It renders states little more than subdivisions of the federal government. This violates the letter, the spirit, and the interpretation of our federal-state form of government. Some may have come to consider federalism an archaic annoyance, perhaps an amusing topic for law-school seminars but certainly not a substantive rule for structuring government. But in New York v. United States (1992) and Printz v. United States (1997), the Supreme Court struck down two laws on the grounds that the Constitution forbids the federal government from commandeering any branch of state government to administer a federal program. That is, by drafting and by deliberate design, exactly what this legislation would do. The federal government may exercise only the powers granted to it or denied to the states. The states may do everything else. This is why, for example, states may have authority to require individuals to purchase health insurance but the federal government does not. It is also the reason states may require that individuals purchase car insurance before choosing to drive a car, but the federal government may not require all individuals to purchase health insurance. This hardly exhausts the list of constitutional problems with this legislation, which would take the federal government into uncharted political and legal territory. Analysts, scholars and litigators are just beginning to examine the issues we have raised and other issues that may well lead to future litigation. America’s founders intended the federal government to have limited powers and that the states have an independent sovereign place in our system of government. The Obama/Reid/Pelosi legislation to take control of the American health-care system is the most sweeping and intrusive federal program ever devised. If the federal government can do this, then it can do anything, and the limits on government power that our liberty requires will be more myth than reality. Mr. Hatch, a Republican senator from Utah, is a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mr. Blackwell is a senior fellow with the Family Research Council and a professor at Liberty University School of Law. Mr. Klukowski is a fellow and senior legal analyst with the American Civil Rights Union. Posted in Socialism In America, Health Care Bill, Federal Government, WakeUp America, President Obama, Constitution Violations, Democratic Party, Politics | No Comments » SHOCK UNCOVERED: Obama IN HIS OWN WORDS saying His Health Care Plan will ELIMINATE private insurance.26. November 2009 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
Posted in Health Care Bill, Federal Government, WakeUp America, President Obama, Democratic Party, Politics | No Comments » Democratic Party News - Health care overhaul passes House although it is Unconstitutional.8. November 2009 by Democratic Party News - The News of the Democratic Party.
The Health Care Bill is Unconstitutional for it will require almost all Americans to get insurance. . . WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Saturday passed, by a 220-215 vote, historic health-care-overhaul legislation that would require virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance and create a government-run health insurance plan to help them do so. If passed by the Senate, the bill would bring about the most sweeping changes in the American health care system since Medicare was created 44 years ago. Supporters of the measure burst into cheers and applause on the House floor as it became clear the measure had passed, but the vote was excruciatingly close — just two more than the minimum needed. One Republican, Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted for the bill; 39 Democrats voted against. President Barack Obama made a personal plea for passage before the all-day debate began. “Now is the time to finish the job,” Obama said in brief remarks in the White House Rose Garden after meeting with House Democrats. The job is far from finished. The Senate hopes to act by the end of the year, and if successful, the two houses would then craft a compromise that would need approval from each chamber. The House vote came with a warning: Getting enough votes later this year or early in 2010 will not be easy. Thirty-nine Democrats, most from conservative districts or freshmen who narrowly won their 2008 elections, voted against the House bill, joining 176 Republicans. In the Senate, eight to 12 moderates have expressed reservations about that chamber’s proposal. In addition to creating the so-called “public option” government-run insurance program, the House-passed bill would bar insurers from denying people coverage because of pre-existing conditions and set up health care “exchanges,” or marketplaces, where consumers could easily shop for coverage. The changes are expected to mean that by 2019, 96 percent of eligible Americans would have health insurance, up from the current 83 percent. During his half-hour appearance Saturday on Capitol Hill, Obama took no questions from lawmakers, but his presence was a vivid reminder that the president has put health care overhaul at the top of his domestic agenda — a change that has eluded presidents for nearly a century. “He came here to say: ‘This is what we said we would do in the campaign. Let’s do it,’ ” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. On the House floor, Democratic leaders appealed to members’ sense of history, reminding them this was one of the most significant votes, short of war, that they were likely to take. “There are few moments when we have the opportunity to do so much good with one vote. This is one of those moments,” Hoyer said. Republicans countered with arguments that the health care plan did little to improve coverage or affordability. “Astoundingly, Democrats are bringing to the floor a bill today that will not reduce the costs of health insurance; it will grow the size of government,” said GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence, R-Ind. Democratic leaders said that they doubted Obama changed many votes but that “the energy he brought to this debate will be helpful,” said Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. A bigger boost might have come from a deal to bar coverage by government-subsidized insurance policies of elective abortions. As originally written, the measure would have required insurers to separate public and private money, so that only private funds could be used for elective abortions. Abortion opponents were concerned that such a policy would effectively expand the government’s role in improving access to abortion, and as many as 40 Democrats threatened to withhold support from the health care bill unless changes were made. After tense negotiations Friday night — with White House officials and representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as well as key Democratic members of Congress — House Democratic leaders agreed to allow a vote Saturday on sweeping changes to the abortion provision. The measure was approved, 240-194, as 64 Democrats joined 176 Republicans to back the change. With that agreement, House Democratic leaders were assured they would get the 218 votes needed to pass the bill. Democrats control 258 seats. Republicans tried throughout the day to create more doubt and delay, loudly shouting objections to routine parliamentary requests and objecting when Democratic women tried to discuss their concerns on the House floor. GOP members then pushed their own plan, which would make it easier for small businesses to band together to purchase competitively priced coverage, allow consumers to buy policies across state lines, and effect strong medical-malpractice reforms. It was easily defeated on a largely party line vote, 258-176. The bigger obstacle for Democrats was fellow Democrats, as dozens of members continued to express reservations about the bill. Some were freshmen elected by slim margins in conservative districts. Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho, wanted to see more cost-cutting. “Unfortunately, the new health care bill in the House does not adequately meet those goals, so I will vote ‘no,’ ” he said. Some were veteran members of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 52 Democratic conservatives. Many objected to the bill’s price tag and worried it would increase the federal deficit. “The House bill misses a critical opportunity to address access, quality and costs on the one hand, and solidify our fiscal future on the other hand,” said Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill’s net cost would total $891 billion over 10 years and reduce the deficit by $109 billion. But many Democrats were wary. “While the Congressional Budget Office predicts this bill is paid for over 10 years, there is no mechanism in the bill to force spending cuts if those complicated projections turn out to be wrong,” said Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas. But enough Blue Dogs and freshmen backed the leadership — which was stressing how the bill could be changed later — that passage seemed likely. In the Senate, where moderates’ concerns have stalled progress, Democratic leaders are hoping for a debate and vote before the end of the year. “My vote is not an endorsement of all the provisions of the bill, because I find much of the bill to be deeply flawed,” said Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., a Blue Dog who backed the measure. “My reason for voting ‘yes’ is to advance the cause of health care reform by forcing the Senate to act.” Posted in Socialism In America, Health Care Bill, President Obama, Democratic Party, Constitution Violations, Politics | No Comments »
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