For those of you just tuning into this discussion, this is the second of a three part series on the Healthcare Reform Bill. In the first part, I discussed researching and sifting through bias to get to the heart of the matter.
There are many reasons why people are against the Healthcare Bill—economics, access, taxes, small business impact and Obama himself. Some of these reasons are valid, some are not. However, the reason I disagree with this bill is that I simply find it to be unconstitutional. Within the Healthcare Reform Bill, there is an “individual mandate” that will require people to pay for health insurance or be fined on a yearly basis. This, to me, is a direct infringement on property rights. The government has no business stepping in and telling citizens where to spend their money.
I think this is magnified by the fact that taxes would also be affected. Therefore, citizens would not only be paying for their own healthcare insurance, but would also be given the responsibility of contributing towards others’ through higher taxes. People can argue all they want about taxes not increasing, but there is no way a government with the size deficit that ours has can sustain so many new healthcare programs without more taxes. It will happen somehow. That’s just logic.
In the Constitution, it says that we are “securing the Blessings of Liberty” for future generations. If you ask me, this is not a “Blessing of Liberty.” Another way in which this bill violates the Constitution and Bill of Rights, outside of property and commerce regulation, is through making states responsible for the wide distribution of healthcare insurance. This is a direct violation of the Tenth Amendment.
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.
I also disagree with this bill because it puts more taxes and responsibility on the already suffering small business owners. The grants the government promises them through this bill are not nearly large enough to cover their increased spending. Small businesses struggle greatly with the wide expanse of taxes and red tape put upon them, let’s not increase their load by adding this behemoth of a task.
This is where I disagree with the Healthcare Reform Bill, however, I do agree that the system we have is not working. Small businesses do need to provide healthcare and people need to have easier access to it, but this is not the way to go about it. There need to be changes, but I don’t think this is the best way to make those changes happen. Of course, from the government’s point of view, it’s easiest. America does not have a very strong history of taking the easy way out. Let’s not start now.
Tune in on Monday to see what I think are the best solutions to this quandary. If you have ideas as well, I would love to hear them!
