REFLECTIONS ON THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE
Almost one year ago I started by blog on Constitutional law by posting an article I had written on HR 3200 that was the original version of the health care bill pending in Congress. I pointed out that the bill was unconstitutional on its face because it involved the granting of powers to the Executive branch of government that Congress didn’t have to begin with. Specifically, Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution does not give Congress the right to regulate health care and certainly does not give it the power to allow the President of the United States to regulate health care. I also pointed out that since the states have always regulated health care on their own; such action by Congress violated the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution.
Along with other opponents of the legislation I pointed out that the pending legislation would force the rationing of health care, particularly for senior citizens, would provide for taxpayer funding of abortions, provide health care to illegal immigrants, and would allow Federal bureaucrats to chose the doctors who would treat American citizens and determine what type of care people could receive.
I came under immediate attack by those on the left, including such groups as Media Matters; a George Soros funded group, as well as liberal newspapers for being a liar and a fear monger. They said that none of this would happen under the legislation. I continued to read and monitor the new versions of the bill that were proposed in the House and Senate including the one that was finally adopted. I talked in my blog about the massive tax increases that would take place under the legislation and how people could be subject to finds for refusing to buy federally mandated health care insurance.
In the meantime, the President of the United States and the leaders of Congress continued to repeatedly assure the citizens of the United States that there would be not health care rationing, no taxpayer funded abortions, and they could certainly keep being treated by the doctors of their choice.
Now it is time for a reality check. As the health care bill is being implemented the states of Pennsylvania and Maryland have been provided with assurances of Federal funds, i.e. taxpayer dollars for the funding of abortions. Insurance companies acting under government mandates are offering plans that allow the government to decide who will be treated by particular doctors. In other words, Americans will not be allowed to choose their own physicians. There is also nothing in the legislation that provides for documentation of who participates in the mandated health insurance programs. Therefore, it is wide open for illegal aliens to get Federally subsidized coverage.
As for the tax increases, they are numerous in the health care bill including provisions that allow the IRS to track and impose taxes on Americans who buy gold to protect themselves against an economic collapse. However, the most onerous tax is that on the use of artificial limbs that will directly impact the thousands of American military personnel who have lost arms or legs in combat while defending our freedom. They will now be forced to pay a tax in order to use the artificial limbs that should be provided to them by a grateful America.
And finally, we have the recess appointment by Obama of Dr. Donald Berwick to oversee the Medicare and Medicaid systems in the country. He is an admirer of the failing British system of universal health care and has stated that rationing of health care in the United States will occur. He and his group of Federal bureaucrats will decide who will get care and what kind of care. They will be making the life or death decisions for millions of American citizens. Death panels will be real.
The bottom line is that the American people were lied to by the President and the leaders of Congress. We are being stripped of our Constitutional rights by the Obama administration and this is just the beginning. Other legislation pending in Congress goes even further in attempts to abolish the Constitution. Americans need to wake up now and fight back or our Republic will soon be just a memory.
Michael Connelly
http://michaelconnelly.viviti.com/
mrobertc@hotmail.com
THE NIGHTMARE OF THE HEALTH CARE BILL
By Michael Connelly
When I first read the original health care reform bill, HR 3200, it was 
akin to trying to cross a minefield in combat. The bill was a mishmash of confusing sections that established a massive Federal government takeover of the health care system in the United States. However, reading the version finally passed and signed into law by President Obama requires that I cross that same minefield with a blindfold on. The entire bill is a blatant attempt to hide what is really going on when it comes to the Constitutional implications for individual Americans and the states that we live in.
I won’t even attempt to deal with all of the items covered in the bill because that would probably require a book. Instead, this is a summary of the most important parts of the bill that will deal a severe and possibly fatal blow to the Constitution of the United States of America.
1. The passage of this bill far exceeds the powers granted to Congress under the provisions of Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution which specifically states what Congress can do.
2. The bill grants powers to President Obama and the Executive Branch of government that are not authorized under the Constitution.
3. The new law requires every American, simply by virtue of the fact that they are alive, to purchase health insurance from private companies that will be heavily regulated by the Federal government. This is not authorized under the commerce clause of the Constitution and the Supreme Court has never rendered a decision saying that such power exists.
4. The legislation not only requires people to purchase health insurance, but establishes the terms and conditions that such insurance plans will have. In other words, Americans will be forced to enter into contracts for coverage that they may not want or need.
5. Failure to comply with the requirements to buy health insurance or even health insurance approved by the Federal Government will result in punitive action against American citizens. People will be fined for this failure although the bill calls it a tax. This is an effort to bypass the provisions of the 5th Amendment to the Constitution which provides protection against the taking of our property without “due process”.
6. This tax will be collected by the Internal Revenue Service that will have an additional 16,500 agents and auditors hired to enforce it. This opens the door for people who fail to pay the “tax” being subjected to criminal penalties.
7. In order to facilitate the actions by the IRS the Federal government will have real time access to the formally private information of Americans including medical records and financial information. This is a violation of our right to privacy and the 4th Amendment protection against illegal searches and seizures.
8. The imposition of this so called “tax” also violates Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution that limits the type of taxes that Congress can levy.
9. The bill also takes away from the states their historic right to regulate the health care industry, including health care insurance, within their own borders. Everything will now be regulated by the Federal government. This is a clear violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.
10. In addition, the legislation will force State Governments to add millions of people to Medicaid, yet the Federal government will not be funding most of this. In other words, the bill will force the states to impose massive tax increases on their citizens in order to pay for this coverage. Congress has no authority to do this and it is another clear violation of the 10th Amendment.
11. The impact on senior citizens in the United States will be immediate and devastating and will entail a breach of contract between Americans and their own government. We are required to pay taxes for Medicare coverage and have a right to expect that they will have adequate health care coverage when we reach age 65. However, enormous cuts in the funding of Medicare under the provisions of the new law will deny us the coverage we have paid for and inevitably lead to the rationing of health care for senior citizens.
12. There are also numerous new taxes imposed under this law ranging from taxes on so called “Cadillac” policies that provide a high level of coverage, to taxes on medical devices, and even taxes on tanning booths. I consider all of these to be questionable under the powers granted to Congress in the Constitution.
These are just some of the important Constitutional issues about this bill, yet there are other disturbing aspects that Americans need to consider. For example, the bill does not prohibit Federal Funding of abortions and that is something many Americans want. Yet, the votes of some members of Congress who opposed this provision were purchased by the President’s promise to sign an Executive Order prohibiting such Federal funding. In fact, he did sign such an order shortly after he signed the health care bill. This was a ruse. The President has no authority under the Constitution to issue an Executive order changing the provisions of a law passed by Congress that he has just signed. The Executive Order is meaningless.
Finally, there is another section of the legislation that has nothing to do with health care. It is an authorization for the Federal Government to take complete control of the granting of student loans for our children to further their education. If you are preparing to send your son or daughter to college you will no longer be able to go to your local bank to take out a student loan. Instead, federal bureaucrats will decide who gets student loans and under what terms and conditions. What will be owed to the Federal government besides the repayment of loans? Will some type of Federal service will be required and will your child have to attend a university approved by the Government. The potential implications are staggering.
For my part, I will continue to work with my friends at the U.S. Justice Foundation, http://usjf.net/ to file a lawsuit to challenge the Constitutionality of this law. For the time being at least my retirement from the practice of law appears to be over. But, I truly believe the future of our country is at stake.
Michael Connelly is a U.S. Army veteran, a retired attorney, and now a published author, freelance writer, and teacher. He is the author of three books. Michael teaches Constitutional Law.
http://michaelconnelly.viviti.com/