Good day, family and friends!
This time, I am going to begin looking at the cure for the issues facing healthcare in our nation. As I have stipulated all along, while we may have the best healthcare system in the world, it does have some serious problems that need to be addressed. Because of this assertion of mine, I've been asked by numerous people (including one of my daughters), "if you acknowledge that the current system is broken, why do you oppose the Healthcare Reform Act that Congress passed this spring to fix it?" The short answer is this; because it's unconstitutional.
Public Law No. 111-148, formerly known as H.R.3590 - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into Law by President Barack Obama on 23 March 2010, violates the Article I, Section 8; Amendment IX; Amendment X; and Amendment XIV. Further, this Law dictates that, for the first time in the history of our great Republic, ordinary law-abiding citizens automatically become criminals unless they purchase a government-sanctioned commodity.
In Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States of America, it is clearly stated that, "...all Duties, Imposts, and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States." In Part I: Subpart I: Section 2701, entitled "Fair health insurance premiums", the Law establishes variable premiums based on age and annual income. This is in addition to Subtitle E: Subpart B: Sections 1411 - 1415, which provides special tax credits and 'cost-sharing' for citizens below the government-defined 'wealth' threshold. In other words, if you choose to work hard to earn a good education, apply yourself to your career and become successful, this Law forces you to not only pay more for your healthcare coverage, but you will be subsidizing the lifestyle choices of pot-smoking, minimum-wage slackers (like the characters of Dante and Randall from the "Clerks" movies) who have chosen to never apply themselves and perpetually exist on the fringe of society.
Amendment IX of the Constitution states, "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain Rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." In other words, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights highlight select Natural Rights, but by no means lists them all. One of the Natural Rights the authors of the Constitution believed we posses by virtue of our very Humanity is the Right of Property. In other words, I, and only I, am entitled to the fruits of my labors and I am the final authority on how best to enjoy those fruits, as long as it does not infringe on the Rights of another. The Founders believed that only a despot would attempt to confiscate the property of one law-abiding citizen and deliver it to another all in the name of some nebulous 'greater good.' They intentionally crafted the Constitution as they did in an attempt to prevent the sort of draconian actions by the Federal government we've seen for nearly two decades. Whether you call it "Leveling the Playing Field" or "Social Justice", the redistribution of wealth prevalent throughout Public Law No. 111-148 is a clear violation of the Right of each and every American citizen to legally strive, legally succeed, and enjoy the legal results of that legal success.
Next time, we look at where this new Healthcare Reform Act runs afoul of Amendments X and XIV
Until next time, best regards...
© James P. Rice 2010
