By Micah Clark
This is What Change Looks Like
It is hard to encapsulate what has happened to our nation in the last few days with the passage and signing of the massive health care reform legislation. At a time when America is literally bankrupt and on the verge of losing its triple AAA bond status, with high unemployment and no end to it in sight, the US Congress passed the largest entitlement bill ever seen in most of our lifetimes. The unfunded mandate for states like Indiana is enormous and potentially devastating over time as the program, like all government entitlements before it, grows far beyond the projected expense numbers.
Here are a few missed projections of much smaller government health care programs:
• In 1965, the House Ways and Means Committee estimated that the hospital insurance program of Medicare – the federal health care program for the elderly and disabled – would cost $9 billion by 1990. The actual cost that year was $67 billion.
• In 1967, the House Ways and Means Committee said the entire Medicare program would cost $12 billion in 1990. The actual cost that year was $98 billion.
• In 1987, Congress projected that Medicaid – the joint federal-state health care program for the poor – would make special relief payments to hospitals of less than $1 billion in 1992. The actual cost that year was $17 billion.
• In 1988 the cost of Medicare’s home care benefit was projected in 1993 to be $4 billion. The actual cost that year was $10 billion.
Anyone who thinks that the Health Care Reform Act will not have a negative impact upon the prosperity and tax burden of our children and grandchildren is woefully naive. “Free” health insurance is coming to millions of Americans with a massive price tag.
However, conservatives and Republicans need to be very careful if they assume that the passage of this legislation over the will of the people through a host of backroom deals and arm-twisting will easily hand them election victories this fall. First of all, in politics, seven months is a lifetime. Voters often have short memories and the proponents of this behemoth have very shrewdly timed a lot of the legislation’s negatives until after the 2010 and 2012 elections.
If there is one thing that could come back to haunt Democrats (there were no Republicans who supported this plan), it is the fear factor of being drug to the gallows. Americans may not yet feel the impact of this legislation, but they do not like how it all came about. It is possible that there is a growing distrust and discomfort that cannot be erased or hidden past an election. This comes from the sheer smarminess of the President’s agenda, his Congressional supporters, and what pay offs they will arrange or put in legislation in order to achieve their ultimate leftist objectives regardless of the views of the citizens.
President Obama (and House Speaker Pelosi in 2006) pledged to be new, transformative political leaders who would rise above politics as usual to a higher level of ethics, openness, bi-partisanship and cooperation with a new style of people-centered governance. Nothing has been farther from the truth, and it is a painful reality that can no longer be hidden.
Shortly before midnight on Sunday the President gave a short four-minute televised statement on the passage of the legislation. I have not been able to get past six words in which he said, “this is what change looks like.” Fasten your seat belts passengers; the next three years are going to be a very long and bumpy ride.
AFA of Indiana Calls for Lawsuit to Block Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
I have been flooded with calls, e-mails and questions from supporters and friends asking what can be done about the passage of this legislation over the will of the people.
Yesterday morning AFA of Indiana delivered a written request asking Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller to look into the legislation and the constitutional questions surrounding it.
Attorneys General in Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington announced that they would likely join together to file suit to block the implementation of the legislation based upon Constitutional concerns. Additionally the Attorney General of Virginia announced plans for an individual lawsuit based upon specific concerns surrounding a Virginia statute. Reports indicate that the Idaho Attorney General may file a similar suit to that of Virginia.
In our letter to Attorney General Zoeller, I cited concerns over the violation of the 10th Amendment, which states “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states.” I also mentioned concerns about the justification for the legislation via the “commerce clause” of the Constitution. I wrote, “To my knowledge this clause has never been used or interpreted to force individuals to buy something, much less insurance. In fact, if a Hoosier decides not to buy health insurance, by definition this individual is NOT engaging in any type of interstate commerce.”
I am sure that several groups and members of Congress are also calling upon the Indiana Attorney General to look into a lawsuit. Attorney General Zoeller is a very sharp and thoughtful legal expert. We’ll see if he sees a solid reason that justifies Indiana in joining in on these challenges.
Is Notre Dame University Still Confused Over the Politics of Abortion?
Even though the US Conference of Catholic Bishops was very clear in their opposition to the health care legislation bill due to its abortion funding provisions, it’s clear that this message didn’t seem to have much of an impact with the former president of Notre Dame University.
A report in the Los Angeles Times praising the influence of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells of her calling Father Theodore Hesburgh, former president of Notre Dame. The Speaker was not calling for spiritual guidance, but political help for the pro-abortion legislation. She asked Hesburgh to call Indiana Congressman Joe Donnelly, a Democrat from South Bend who allegedly had concerns over the abortion issue. The reporter observing the call and the Speaker’s clout does not report on the ND president’s response, but notes that Donnelly supported the bill over the objections of pro-life and Catholic groups.
A year after Notre Dame was criticized for hosting President Obama, the Speaker of the House hundreds of miles away, knew so well where the past President of ND stood politically, that she had no hesitation in calling him and asking him to ignore the teachings of his church in order to do a political power play with a local legislator. This news story does not reflect well upon the moral teachings of the Indiana college if its past president doesn’t even place them above politics.
Speaking of Life
On Thursday, April 15th, Life Centers of Indianapolis will host a fund-raising event featuring former President George W. Bush and award winning singing artist, Sandi Patti at Conseco Fieldhouse. For tickets or more information click this link:
http://www.lifecenters.com/events.html
Follow Up To Governor’s Guns vs. Business Dilemma
A few weeks ago I mentioned Indiana House Bill 1065 which pitted some business groups against 2nd Amendment advocates. The bill had easily passed the legislature and was headed to the Governor’s desk as the media and some business groups turned up the heat on the issue of guns at the workplace. The bill had two provisions. One part was the prohibition against confiscating legally owned firearms during a state emergency. This was a concern that stemmed from reports of such confiscations during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The second part allowed an individual to lock a legally owned and licensed firearm in his or her car during work hours even if his employer opposed that right of the individual. This was the part that concerned some business groups.
Governor Daniels signed HB 1065 into law on March 15th.
If you find this article informative? Consider donating any amount you choose.
Related posts:
- Micah Clark’s weekly update Indiana is Officially Fighting Back! Last week...
- The war on terror now points to gun toting, bible thumping rednecks Obama is slowly rewriting America’s dialogue with...
Entries (RSS)
