Why Oppose Obamacare: It's Not About Health Insurance Reform, Medical Care or Even Cost

The arguments for and against health care reform, hereafter referred to as Obamacare, run the gamut from helping the uninsured to concern about the deficit. Proponents say we must increase health insurance coverage because there are 30-50 million uninsured people in the country and that it will reduce the deficit at the same time. Opponents say that a new entitlement program cannot possibly lower medical costs without either increasing the deficit or rationing health care. These are great arguments for and against Obamacare, but both miss the point.

It doesn't matter if Obamacare will cover one person or 50 million people. It doesn't matter if it's free or if it will increase the deficit or decrease the deficit. It doesn't matter if Obamacare lowers medical costs or massively increases them. All these points are utterly irrelevant.

The problem with Obamacare is this: the government has no business in health care. There is no basis in the Constitution of the United States¹ for the government to provide health care. There is no basis in the Constitution of the United States for the government to require any individual to purchase health insurance, or any other insurance for that matter. President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid all know this.

They don't care. They don't care if Obamacare works or doesn't work. The just want control of all aspects of your life. Once the government controls health care, it's not a giant leap for the same government to insist that it can regulate anything in your life because it affects health care costs. The current Obamacare bill begins that very thing with a national regulation that restaurants show nutrition information for all menu items. Once that's in place, how long will it take before the government realizes that, even though you've been given nutritional information, you're still eating the "bad" food? What happens then?

The Constitution was specifically designed to prevent this sort of thing. That's why it contains "enumerated powers" and little things called "amendments." Nowhere in the founding document of this country do the words "shall regulate health care and/or force citizens to purchase health insurance" appear. Obamacare also contains the complete takeover of student loans by the government. More control, and yet again, where in the Constitution does it say that Congress "shall have the power to control all loans for educational purposes?" Some would argue that the "commerce clause" covers these things, but they're wrong. Medical insurance companies are currently banned from operating across state lines. By definition, there is no interstate commerce to regulate. And if you get a student loan from Joe's Community Bank and spend it at Jim's Community College, there is again no interstate commerce. Granted, there are Federal student loans, but what if you wanted to get a private loan? If Obamacare passes, you will no longer have that option. Again, more control is the issue.

Obamacare even expands IRS powers. Guess which agency gets to enforce the mandate to buy health insurance? Didn't buy an "approved" health care plan? Kiss your IRS refund goodbye.² How many people, even people who think Obamacare is a good idea, want more power for the IRS, especially if it involves your medical decisions? For those who might have forgotten, choosing what kind of health insurance to buy, if any, is a medical decision. The statists in the White House and Congress not only want to control that medical decision, they want to use the IRS to enforce that control.

By the way, what happens if you don't buy health insurance, don't get a tax refund for the IRS to take, and therefore actually owe money because of the penalty? There will be interest, fees and penalties just like when you fail to pay any other tax, and if you refuse or the IRS determines you intentionally didn't comply...you face prison.³ Arguably the failure to purchase health care insurance could be determined to be a deliberate underpaying of tax, since you knew that the tax would be imposed if you didn't buy health insurance. Deliberately underpaying tax is subject to even more penalties and fees, and again could be construed as a crime.

The battle of Obamacare is about who controls your life. Will it be you or the government? Will we live within the document our Founding Fathers created to rule the longest-lived democracy on earth, or will we be subject to an ever increasing prison of "benefits" provided by the government....even if it's against our will? Do we need the return of our freedoms, or do we need more "help" from a federal government which, among other things, already tells you how much water your toilet can flush, how much water your shower can put out per minute, and can prosecute you for violating laws you never knew of, never intended to break, and in fact didn't actually break in the first place?⁴

Doesn't anyone wonder why President Obama first postponed his trips to Indonesia and Australia for three days, and then postponed them yet again until June? These are major state visits. For that matter, why push so doggedly for a bill that the public is so clearly against? A president is supposed to work for us, not in spite of us. He is not supposed to tell us that he knows what's good for us and that once he's rammed this down our throats we'll realize it was for our own good. President Obama is not a parent speaking down to his children, although his condescending attitude would suggest that he actually thinks he is.

So why the urgency? This is not a bill that directly affects national security. This is not a bill that, say, would finalize the Federal budget during a government shutdown. This is not some emergency measure to fund disaster relief. This is a about government establishing de facto control over health care, leading to direct control over health care over the long run. That is why President Obama is so eager to see this one through. If he gets control over health care, it leads to the control of everything else.

Obamacare is about freedom, plain and simple. President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the Marxists (statists) in Congress want you to have less, ^{5, 6} and eventually none.

The Constitution says they don't have that power, but they just don't care. Do you?

Notes:

1) The Constitution of the United States, Constitution of the United States - Official, The Charters of Freedom

2) Needham, Vickie,Republicans assail IRS provision in health care bill, The Hill's On The Money (thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money)

3) Carroll, Conn, Video: Pelosi Says Jail "Very Fair" Punishment For Not Buying Health Insurance, The Foundry (blog.heritage.org)

4) Walsh, Brian, You're (Probably) a Federal Criminal, FOXnews.com

5) Obama On Single Payer Health Care, YouTube

6) Miller, Sunlen, Interview with the President: Jail Time for Those without Health Care Insurance? , Political Punch (blog.abcnews.com)