Health Care Reform? Amend the Constitution

Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is the federal government authorized to offer "health insurance." The same goes for the federal government's ability to "manage" health care, health care costs, etc.

It's not a question of whether universal health care is a good idea.

It is merely impermissible under the U.S. Constitution. There is only one way to properly remedy that if you believe in universal health care programs: amend the Constitution.

The Progressives -- who should call themselves "socialists" and/or Marxists to reflect their true beliefs -- know that the American people would never go for a constitutional amendment.

So they intend to do an "end run" around the Constitution and the will of the American people.

They might succeed if you do not raise your voice.

And if they do succeed there is no limit to how much damage they will do to the basic freedoms we enjoy in America. Under the guise of "health care reform" Progressive bureaucrats will tell you how to eat, live, play, work and care for your family. There are criminal penalties built into the pending legislation that will threaten the finances (property) and freedom (going to prison means losing one's right to assembly, gun ownership, even curtailed speech) of anyone who dares challenge their unconstitutional actions!

This is closer to the old Soviet-style gulag tactics than anything the people of the United States have ever experienced.

Once it goes into effect, who will challenge health care reform in federal court to test its constitutionality? Only those who dare to risk massive fines and imprisonment.

It would be far better for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to lose his floor debate vote on Saturday night than for us to take the risk that either House or Senate versions of health care "reform" become law.

Please take a few minutes to call your senators. If they support "reform," let them know that you will make it your life's work to see that they are defeated for re-election. If they oppose "reform," tell them you are thankful and ask them to work on their colleagues who are on the fence.

Few events in our lifetimes are as critical as this issue. We could well be the generation that stood by while freedom disappeared, not from enemies abroad but from those enemies of freedom among us.

Do not kid yourself that you can live with health care "reform." As described in the 2,074 page Senate bill, jobs will be killed and taxes will be raised.

Despite what the bill's supporters claim, the federal deficit will increase as a result of this legislation. You cannot get something for nothing. You cannot say that a program will cost nearly $900 billion over the next 10 years and then claim that it is deficit neutral. The money has to come from somewhere. It will either come from more government borrowing and spending, or they will make it up in higher taxes and fees, or cuts from Medicare which the states will have to supplant from their budgets.

All this during a time of economic crisis unsurpassed since the Great Depression.

Worse, the "scoring" of the bill conveniently only covers the first 10 years, the first three of which there is no actual money being spent, only taxes being collected. The real costs hit home in year 11 when it is estimated that it will create a $2.5 trillion drain on the federal budget for the second ten years.

The Senate bill encodes into law the payment of monies for elective abortions. Without a doubt this will be the version that becomes law, if either does.

Killing unborn children is not health care. No American should not be forced to pay into an abortion fund to pay for something that they believe is murder.

I could go on and on, but the simple fact is that the Constitution does not authorize this or any other federal health care planning regime. If I knew nothing else, it would be all I would need to know.

Let's stop this thing. Now.

The End Run on Gun Rights Via the U.N.

A few important points on a Thursday morning.

The Obama Administration has given the "green light" to the United Nations to negotiate a treaty that will "regulate the marketing, transfer and brokering in firearms."

If you think the Second Amendment will magically protect you from the effects of this proposed treaty, think again. The Supreme Court has generally held that international treaties trump domestic legislation AND basic protections of the Constitution.

Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr has blogged about this development. I don't care what you think of Bob Barr; he's been very good on gun issues.

This is what you need to know:

1) When any Obama official -- and many Democrats in Congress -- reassures us that they have no intention of messing with the Second Amendment, what they mean is that they won't need to. They are planning an "end run" around the Constitution.

2) We cannot afford to maintain the Pelosi-Reid machine in Congress by sending Blue Dogs to Congress. Sure, they may be "hunting rights" supporters (but are they "gun rights" supporters?), and their hearts may be in the right place, but their very existence as registered Democrats mean that they keep Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in the drivers' seats. For the sake of individual liberties and traditional American freedoms, we must "clean House" and Senate in 2010 and replace them with people who will defend the Constitution.

Notice that I said people, not Republicans. The Republicans need to clean their house of Progressive elements. I believe this can be done, and a whole hell of a lot easier than the Democratic party, but we have to demonstrate the will, as the electorate, to force the issue. Each candidate needs to be vetted by We, the People, to make sure that individual liberties will be safe on their watch and they will not suddenly start supporting big government (socialist or socialist light) solutions to perceived problems.

If the American people lose their individual right to "keep and bear arms" we will take a huge step toward tyranny. Our Founders knew this and it was generally accepted as a truism throughout most of our nation's history. The Progressives have worked hard to dumb down our schools and demonize gun ownership in the last century. To the extent that people are asleep on this issue, they have succeeded.

Awaken your neighbors; teach your children. Write your congressman and don't let him get away with making a distinction between "hunting guns" and "guns for personal protection."

The Second Amendment says nothing about hunting.

Healthy Pork in Health Care Reform Legislation

Where in the Constitution does it empower the Congress to pay for jungle gyms, walking paths, or streetlights?

It doesn't. There is no enabling clause that permits the financing of farmers markets either.

But in the name of "health infrastructure," Congress is about to embark on a new spending spree of pork designed to "transform communities."

WASHINGTON - Sweeping healthcare legislation working its way through Congress is more than an effort to provide insurance to millions of Americans without coverage. Tucked within is a provision that could provide billions of dollars for walking paths, streetlights, jungle gyms, and even farmers’ markets.

The add-ons - characterized as part of a broad effort to improve the nation’s health “infrastructure’’ - appear in House and Senate versions of the bill.

Critics argue the provision is a thinly disguised effort to insert pork-barrel spending into a bill that has been widely portrayed to the public as dealing with expanding health coverage and cutting medical costs.

[SNIP]

But advocates, including Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, defend the proposed spending as a necessary way to promote healthier lives and, in the long run, cut medical costs. “These are not public works grants; they are community transformation grants,’’ said Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Kennedy, chairman of the Senate health committee whose health care bill includes the projects.

“If improving the lighting in a playground or clearing a walking path or a bike path or restoring a park are determined as needed by a community to create more opportunities for physical activity, we should not prohibit this from happening,’’ Coley said in a statement.

Good intentions, the cobblestones on the rocky road to hell.

Worse, when you get into the details of the legislation, it is clear that all constitutional safeguards are being tossed out the window. Again.

The Senate health panel’s bill does not specify how much would go to the community projects. A Senate staff member said the amount of spending will be left up to the Obama administration. A House version of the bill caps the projects at $1.6 billion per year and includes them in a section designed to save money in the long run by reducing obesity and other health problems.

It is not clear yet how the money would be allocated. The legislation says that grants will be awarded to local and state government agencies that will have to submit detailed proposals. The final decisions will be made by the secretary of Health and Human Services.

No specifics. Power deferred to unelected bureaucrats. Want to bet that the spending cap will disappear by the time the final bill is signed by President Obama?

That is, of course, unless we can stop the madness.

Or does anyone even care at this point?

Pelosi's Prescription for America

Were you afraid Congress had forgotten about socialized health care?

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House this year will consider health-care legislation including an option for a government-run program that would compete with insurers.

“This is a big agenda, and I believe it should have a public option in it for it to be really substantial,” Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference in the U.S. Capitol. [snip]

Pelosi said the Democratic-controlled House will be “aggressive” in its approach to a health-care overhaul, which is a centerpiece of Obama’s agenda. She said a government role in health care will help U.S. companies be more competitive.

“This is not only about the health of individuals in our country, which will be justification enough,” said Pelosi, a California Democrat. “It’s about the competitiveness of our businesses to make them globally competitive because they are competing with companies and countries where the federal government -- their governments -- pay for health care. They don’t have to bear those health care costs.”

My gosh, this woman is such a genius! Not! She has no clue that the reason the American health care system is the best in the world -- still, despite existing government intrusion -- is because other governments in the world have already ruined their health-care systems. And she thinks this is a freakin' selling point?

Where in the Constitution does it say the federal government should "get health care insurance premiums off the books of private business so that they can be competitive globally"?

It doesn't.