Taking Back
Henry David Thoreau wrote "Government is best which governs least."1 If only our country's politicians would have listened to him. Barack Obama's administration, in conjunction with previous administrations, have created a massive, out-of-control, wasteful, and unconstitutional Federal Government, which, on September 12th, 2009, compelled over one million Americans, including myself, to march on Washington DC in order to protest further attempts to increase the power of the government.
There were many specific reasons people showed up to protest but there was an overall theme. The powers of the Federal Government have by far exceeded the limits set upon it by the US Constitution, and the current health care legislation was the straw that broke the camel's back. The enumerated powers, given to the Federal Government by the US Constitution, fall into two broad categories. Powers such as regulating commerce with foreign nations, deciding immigration laws, providing for the national defense, dealing with piracy, declaring war against and making treaties with foreign nations, were designed to allow the country to act with one voice when dealing with the rest of the world. The other powers granted, such as regulating inter-state commerce, coining money, establishing standard weights and measures, establishing post roads and post offices, and creating bankruptcy and patent laws, were designed to promote commerce for the nation as a whole.2 The tenth amendment reads: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."3 There is nothing in the Constitution authorizing the Federal Government to deal with health care or any other social issues, which were traditionally regulated at a state level. Yet they have already created a nationwide forced "insurance" program known as Social Security, which, in reality, is nothing more than another massive tax which forces more people to be dependant on the government. Neither are they allowed to deal with other than inter-state commerce. But in the last year the Federal Government has nationalized banks, car companies, student loans, home mortgages and more. Now they are looking to take over 1/6th of the economy with the proposed health care bill.
In 1995, Congress tried to enact a law which would make it a federal crime to carry an illegal gun within 1000 feet of a school. The Supreme Court ruled in US vs. Lopez that Congress cannot regulate this because the moving of illegal guns is not commercial; it is criminal, which is regulated by the states. In an article written by Judge Andrew Napolitano, citing this case, he stated "Applying these principles to President Barack Obama's health-care proposal, it's clear that his plan is unconstitutional at its core. The practice of Medicine consists of the delivery of intimate services to the human body. In almost all instances, the delivery of medical services occurs in one place and does not move across interstate lines. One goes to a physician not to engage in commercial activity, as the framers of the Constitution understood, but to improve one's health. And the practice of Medicine, much like public school safety, has been regulated by states for the past century."4 Our elected officials take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the US Constitution and from that point forward, do everything in their power to circumvent it.
This protest was
also against massive Federal deficit spending, which threatens to destroy our
economy. The first six months of the Obama administration has seen spending at
an unprecedented level. With items such as the second $350B for TARP (Troubled
Asset Relief Program)5, $150B for TARP 25,
$100B for the GM and Chrysler Bailouts6, $787B for the stimulus plan7,
and the $3.6 trillion budget, (with a $1.75 trillion budget deficit)8,
and their future proposals, the Federal Government added "more to the debt than
all the previous presidents - from George Washington to George W. Bush -
combined."9 All of this was on top an already $9.9 trillion national
debt10 with unfunded liabilities for Social Security,
Medicare/Medicaid, and the Prescription Drug Plan, totaling approximately $59
trillion11. This is roughly ten times the entire inflation-adjusted cost
of the Marshall Plan, the
The Federal Government has usurped many of the rights and freedoms guaranteed to the people by the US Constitution, with much more on the horizon. Between the Patriot Act, the nationalization of the Auto Industry, the influence it has wielded over some of our largest financial institutions, the regulation of CEO pay, and the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, the government's power has grown far beyond anything our founding fathers would recognize. The proposed health care bill threatens to put government in control of another 1/6th of the economy as well as the private decisions between you and your doctor regarding your own well being. The impending Cap and Trade legislation is another incredible power grab that will regulate all forms of energy use throughout the country. This has implications in every aspect of the economy and in turn, our lives.
It seems as if our
Federal Government is in a big hurry to take more and more control of our lives
and that's what we were there trying to stop. Nationalized healthcare is the
last straw causing people who have never been politically active to rise up and
try to stop our government's relentless march towards Socialism. On
Sources:
1. Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience 1849
2. US Constitution, Article 1, Section 8
3. US Constitution, Amendment X
4.
Andrew Napolitano, "Health Care Reform and The Constitution", Wall Street Journal.
5.
Peter Barnes, "Tarp 2 Aims to Ease Consumer", Fox
Business,
6.
John Hendren, "Monday is
Payday for Chrysler, GM, ABC News",
7.
Stephen Collinson, "Obama
Signs Stimulus Bill", The Sidney Morning Herald,
8.
Associated Press, "President Obama outlines $3.6T
budget plan", The
9.
Micheal J. Boskin, "Obama's Radicalism Is Killing the Dow", The Wall
Street Journal,
10. Historical
Tables Budget of the
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/hist.pdf
12. Barry
Ritholtz. "Big Bailouts, Bigger Bucks," The Big
Picture blog,
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/big-bailouts-bigger-bucks/.