U.S. House abandons freedom in rush to enact government-run health care
By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-11-18 17:56:35 | Word Count: 652
The U.S. House of Representatives has abandoned individual freedom in their rush to enact government-run health care. In a historic vote that signals the destruction of individual liberty and free markets, 219 Democrats were joined by one Republican, Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao, of Louisiana, to pass H.R. 3962, the so-called “Affordable Health Care for America Act.” The remaining 176 Republicans were joined by 39 Democrats to oppose the measure in a close 220-215 vote.
The final vote on H.R. 3962 shows that Republicans were unified, with the exception of Cao, and that 39 of the 52 “Blue Dog” or moderate Democrats voted for liberty and free markets. This vote is a defining moment for this Congress. It shows quite clearly who supports big government and the march toward tyranny and who is committed to freedom. No one who has seriously considered our nation’s state of affairs and understands the principles of freedom and the lessons of history could, in good conscience, support this bill.
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There are so many bad things in H.R. 3962, it’s difficult to know where to start. Perhaps one of the most egregious affronts to common sense and freedom is the government mandate. This is requirement that virtually everyone purchase health insurance or face criminal sanctions. How does something like this fit any definition of liberty or freedom of choice? Can anyone think of anything like this in our history that government has forced upon our citizens?
The only things that come to mind are the military draft, Social Security and taxes. The draft ceased to exist several decades ago. Social Security, which is neither “social” nor financially “secure,” is a government entitlement program that has no basis of authority in our Constitution and is at odds with individual freedom. Social Security forces citizens into a government-run retirement program with no choice to opt out. Social Security has been managed so “exceptionally” that it will be broke soon if our public officials don’t fix it. No one in their right mind should want to emulate this government program. Finally, while federal taxes are a necessary evil, they have been increased dramatically, over time, by a government that has taken on many more responsibilities than it is authorized to handle by our Constitution. So we are over-taxed to fund illegitimate governmental activities.
National health insurance, as advanced under H.R. 3962, is more of the same liberty-stealing, legalized plunder from Washington. It belongs in the trash heap of history with other miserably failed socialist experiments of the past seventy years.
Perhaps in 2010, the people of this nation will have the wisdom to send the empty-headed socialists who voted for H.R. 3962 to this same trash heap where they can fantasize about their socialist utopia that will never be. Utopian dreams never work, they just destroy freedom and people’s lives. While such ideological fantasies are the stuff of novels, political tracts and misguided college classroom lectures, they have no place in the laws of our land. Let those who desire such utopias migrate to those nations where such utopias are the framework for policy: North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam and other nations comprising the world’s intellectual kindergartens. We are not obligated to join them in their misguided fantasies.
Our laws should uphold the principles of our Constitution and protect the rights of individual citizens. When our government steals our liberty, we, the people, must take it back. And this is exactly what millions of us will do in the 2010 elections.
