THE NIGHTMARE OF THE HEALTH CARE BILL

Posted March 31, 2010

When I first read the original health care reform bill, HR 3200, it wa
s akin to trying to cross a minefield in combat. The bill was a mishmash of conf
using sections that established a massive Federal government takeover of the hea
lth care system in the United States. However, reading the version finally passe
d and signed into law by President Obama requires that I cross that same minefie
ld with a blindfold on. The entire bill is a blatant attempt to hide what is rea
lly going on when it comes to the Constitutional implications for individual Ame
ricans and the states that we live in.
I wonâ 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 m
ost 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 Congre
ss under the provisions of Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution which specif
ically states what Congress can do.
2. The bill grants powers to President Obama and the Executive Branc
h 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 w
ill be heavily regulated by the Federal government. This is not authorized under
the commerce clause of the Constitution and the Supreme Court has never rendere
d a decision saying that such power exists.
4. The legislation not only requires people to purchase health insur
ance, but establishes the terms and conditions that such insurance plans will ha
ve. In other words, Americans will be forced to enter into contracts for coverag
e that they may not want or need.
5. Failure to comply with the requirements to buy health insurance o
r even health insurance approved by the Federal Government will result in puniti
ve action against American citizens. People will be fined for this failure altho
ugh the bill calls it a tax. This is an effort to bypass the provisions of the 5
th Amendment to the Constitution which provides protection against the taking of
our property without â due processâ .
6. This tax will be collected by the Internal Revenue Service that w
ill have an additional 16,500 agents and auditors hired to enforce it. This open
s the door for people who fail to pay the â taxâ being subjected to criminal penaltie
s.
7. In order to facilitate the actions by the IRS the Federal governm
ent 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 s
eizures.
8. The imposition of this so called â taxâ also violates Article 1, Secti
on 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 i
s 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 t
ax increases on their citizens in order to pay for this coverage. Congress has n
o 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 immed
iate 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 hav
e a right to expect that they will have adequate health care coverage when we re
ach age 65. However, enormous cuts in the funding of Medicare under the provisio
ns 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 â Cadillacâ 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 Constituti
on.
These are just some of the important Constitutional issues about thi
s 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 o
pposed this provision were purchased by the Presidentâ s promise to sign an Executi
ve Order prohibiting such Federal funding. In fact, he did sign such an order sh
ortly after he signed the health care bill. This was a ruse. The President has n
o authority under the Constitution to issue an Executive order changing the prov
isions 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 nothin
g to do with health care. It is an authorization for the Federal Government to t
ake complete control of the granting of student loans for our children to furthe
r 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 t
erms and conditions. What will be owed to the Federal government besides the rep
ayment of loans? Will some type of Federal service will be required and will you
r child have to attend a university approved by the Government. The potential im
plications are staggering.
For my part, I will continue to work with my friends at the U.S. Jus
tice Foundation, http://usjf.net/ to file a lawsuit to challenge the Constituti
onality 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.