Heath Care

So Congress today passed the "Historic Health Care Bill". So, you ask, "What does Aaron think of this load of crap?" Wait! Maybe you should rephrase that question. "What does Aaron think of the health care bill getting passed?" That's better.

Pretty much anyone who knows me knows where I line up politically. I'm very conservative; and when I say "very conservative" I mean Reagan is Lenin and W is . . . I don't know . . . some sort of semi-retarded communist dictator. I think the Federal Government's job is to protect us if we get attacked and ensure my rights aren't violated. That's it. It's not the government's job to make sure I can get my lung cancer operated on after I've smoked for 30 years. If I slip down a cliff and break my neck while trying to get to a waterfall, that's not your responsibility and you shouldn't have to pay for it. I'm tired of people thinking the Federal Government is a momma cow and we're the calves in there trying to find a teet. Where do you think that milk comes from in the first place? The "30 million Americans without health insurance that are now covered" is a huge steaming pile. A third of that group are illegal immigrants who shouldn't be covered to begin with. Another huge chunk are people in their 20s and 30s who could afford insurance but have decided they don't want to buy it because they don't think they'll need it. Three quarters of the citizens in the country were against this particular version of health care reform. How in the world did this get passed? It's just like how the "pretty, popular girl" wins the Prom Queen every year even though most of the kids in the school secretly hate her. The Congressmen are voting yes because they'd rather impress the Prom Queen than vote for the girl who deserves to win.

So now what happens? The state of Idaho has already passed a bill/statement/resolution/whatever saying they will sue the Federal Government if they pass the bill. Something like 37 other states are working on similar bills. The tenth amendment to the constitution (remember that thing Congressmen, Senators, and President?) basically states that any task that isn't specifically given to the Feds in the Constitution is off limits. The Feds have no right in schools, the arts, and certainly not in health care. With the passage of this bill, the Federal Government is requiring citizens to spend their money on something they may or may not want. This is unconstitutional no matter how badly you want health care for all. Idaho and other states are perfectly within their legal rights to sue on the matter and they will. Ultimately this whole thing is going to end up in the hands of the Supreme Court where we will have another States' Rights Issue to resolve. The Supreme Court has generally sided with the states in these issues but I'm having my doubts. In the words of the ancient philosopher Obi Wan Kenobi, "I've got a bad feeling about this." This decision will be about more than just health care. It will be about how far the Feds are willing to go to push their agenda on the states and how far the Court is going to allow them to go. No matter which way they decide, this is an important moment in America's history. We will either confirm that we are indeed a Republic of individual states and the most free country in history, or we will confirm that the original ideas of our founding fathers are no longer important. Let's hope for the first one.