Excellent article on Politico.com about the unconstitutionality of Barack Obama’s health care bill, which Congress will vote on this Sunday. If the bill passes, the government will force Americans to purchase health insurance even if they don’t want it. It will be like forcing people to buy car insurance when they don’t even own a car.
The bill will likely pass as Democrats buckle under the pressure from Obama. But individual states will pass legislation blocking the bill (if it passes). So there is still hope.
Read it and weep:
By now, most Americans know the dirty details of Obamacare. It raises taxes. It will force Americans to pay for other people’s abortions. It will put the government in charge of more than 18 percent of our private sector economy. It may provide benefits to up to 6.1 million illegal immigrants. It diminishes liberty and gives government more power.
Most egregiously, it is not constitutional. The Congressional Budget Office weighed in on an individual mandate to buy health insurance in 1994. The CBO stated:
“A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States. An individual mandate would have two features that, in combination, would make it unique. First, it would impose a duty on individuals as members of society. Second, it would require people to purchase a specific service that would be heavily regulated by the federal government.”
We can expect lawsuits across the country challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare — if it passes. The Virginia General Assembly has already passed legislation prohibiting the federal government from forcing Virginians to purchase government-approved health insurance. Other states are sure to follow suit should the bill pass — setting up legal battles that will further drag out the debate.
If this bill passes, health care will cost far more than it does now, or ever did in the past. It will be more expensive for individuals and more expensive for businesses — and it will provide less service.
