Central Planning dealt a blow by Virginia Judge

Yesterday Virginia federal judge ruled that Obamacare's provision to require, by law, that everyone purchase insurance by 2014 is unconstitutional. The reason given by the Virginia judge was that Congress cannot regulate "an individual's failure to purchase health insurance under the pretense that it is an economic activity that affects interstate commerce". The argument being pushed by Sebelius and Holder is that, "as two federal courts have already held, this unfair cost-shifting harms the marketplace. For decades, Supreme Court decisions have made clear that the Constitution allows Congress to adopt rules to deal with such harmful economic effects, which is what the law does – it regulates how we pay for health care by ensuring that those who have insurance don't continue to pay for those who don't."

It's called insurance people. The notion of insurance is simple; one pays for the potential use against needing to use it while another takes on the risk of paying if the use is acted upon. We, as a free society, shall never be dictated to by any form of government to what we have to purchase in order to part of the free society known as the United States of America. Some have pointed to car insurance as a similar instance where one is obligated to purchase a product to drive a car but what they fail to recognize is that one does not need a car to be a citizen of the United States. The Commerce Clause and the Supremacy Clause have been abused by the Federal Government and here is just another liberal interpretation of the Commerce Clause. If the Supreme Court hears this case, or a similar one, and rules that mandating health insurance as a right of citizenship then what is next? Where does it stop?

Perhaps these words will fall on deaf ears because the American Spirit was waned in recent decades. Apathy is the order of the day instead of entrepreneurial spirit. The masses have been trained and enslaved by the federal government with the passing of entitlement programs and bailouts. The health care mandate is a blatant attempt to pave the way for more central planning in all aspects of our lives. Wake up now before it is too late and you are herded into ghettos.

Obama Administration confused on Public Option

On the Sunday morning talk show circuit Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius commented on CNN that President Obama’s health care plan may be changing as the public option “is not the essential element”. Or is it? Even though the headlines across the land quip Secretary Sebelius it appears the White House is already back peddling. Linda Douglass, White House Health Reform Communications Director, released a statement saying, “Nothing has changed. The president has always said that what is essential is that health-insurance reform must lower costs, ensure that there are affordable options for all Americans and it must increase choice and competition in the health-insurance market. He believes the public option is the best way to achieve those goals.”

While Secretary Sebelius was pushing the conversation away from the public option, Sen. Conrad elaborated on Fox News Sunday that the president does not have the votes in the Senate to pass reform with a public option in it. Sen. Conrad has been pushing, a bipartisan approach, Co-operative option to increasing competition and providing affordable health care for all. While Sen. Conrad’s Co-Op option is more aligned with traditional Co-Op’s, Sen. Schumer has another vision of how a health insurance Co-Op would work.

Sen. Schumer is looking to have the Co-Op be run and subsidized by the government and include health care plans that were chosen by the government. In essence Sen. Schumer’s plan is no more than a public option organized a bit differently. According to the New York Times, the backers of a public option are outspending non-public option supports 3 to 1. A public option would be the death to privately held insurance.

The current House bill calls for companies to provide health insurance that is at least 80% as good as the public option or face a penalty of 8.5%. In our global economy how are large companies to compete with their counterparts around the world if they are faced with a possible 8.5% penalty for not keeping up with government run health care? They can’t and will not. Americans will see companies, albeit slowly, stripping away health care as a benefit the company offers. It makes sense too. With a public option available, where is the competitive advantage to offer a benefit that becomes too cumbersome to maintain and really is not needed since it is available for “free”?

No matter which side of this debate you fall on, make sure you get out to have your voice heard. Don’t rely on the sensationalism news reports to dictate your view of those for or against the president’s plan for health care. Get out to a town hall meeting and find out first hand. Call your member of Congress and learn of their position while voicing yours.