I woke up this morning hotly anticipating the SCOTUS decision on the constitutionality of Obamacare, fully expecting it to be ruled unconstitutional. To my dismay, it was upheld (and Roberts, rather than Kennedy, was the deciding vote). I was happy to see that SCOTUS rejected the government’s claim that Obamacare was a valid expression of Congress’ ability to regulate interstate commerce (although Ginsberg, unsurprisingly, thinks it is), but I was blown away that they considered it a tax. Seriously? Talk about legal and semantical obfuscation! As Wesley J. Smith wrote, “It appears that the Supremes have rewritten the law in order to uphold it.” With this approach to law and constitutionality, anything can be made legal…the constitution be damned.
Apparently now the federal government can require us to buy whatever they want so long as they call it a “tax” (something Obama and the Dems specifically said it was not). Calling something a tax doesn’t make it one. Perhaps we’ll all be required to buy, I mean pay a tax for tofu next year.
When Congress can pass such a law, and SCOTUS can uphold it as being constitutional, I fear that we are no longer being ruled by a Constitution but by the whims of those who hold office. Federalism is dying. Power is shifting away from the states and to the federal government. Who needs state governments when the federal government can regulate all of American life? I fear we are no longer the United States of America. We are simply America.
Thinking to Believe 
June 28, 2012 at 1:33 pm
You are absolutely right, Jason. I don’t understand how this can be considered a tax. With the way things are going, we may just as well rewrite the constitution, because it certainly isn’t being used the way it was intended by our founding fathers. I was appaled this morning when I heard the news. I agree 100 percent with you on this, the government is out of control.
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July 2, 2012 at 9:52 am
Jason,
In no way do I mean to spark an argument, but I do have a question: why is it that the political right is against “Obamacare” (the term in itself seeming to be an attempt to ridicule the law), but is for instituting (by means of force) democracy to other countries (i.e. Iraq)? Are not both measures attempts at helping the less fortunate?
Of course, I realize that the people of Iraq may have been under harsher circumstances than probably anyone here in the U.S., but it seems to me that this health care issue is so devisive more due to partian siding as opposed to moral issues.
Personally, I believe that freeing Iraq from dictatorship AND helping Americans that can not afford health insurance to be respectible causes.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this…
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July 2, 2012 at 1:24 pm
I agree with you, it does seem that way, and it usually comes down to whether you are a republican or a democrat. I myself am a libertarian, so I do not believe in Obamacare, or freeing Iraq. As far as helping the less fortunate, I am all for that, but I am always inclined to agree with charity more than I am propping up a nation and making them dependant upon the government. This is the Govt’s way of forcing out smaller insurances and mandating everyone to take up theirs. A way of taking over the market, instead of opening the market up. More competition would have drove down prices in the healthcare industry. Obamacare will not.
As far as Iraq is concerned, it’s none of our business. I know it’s a harsh thing to say, but it is true. Also we are broke. America needs to realize that. We would not want, and would not allow, anyone else’s military to come into the U.S. and start telling us how we should run our government. Why then would we do the same? It is because of oil. You don’t see us running into all these other places without oil and nation building there. Our govt. has it’s own priorities, and it’s not about us, it’s about the 1 percent. It’s not about the D or the R anymore, they’re on the same team, and we the people need to wake up and realize that. We need to realize what freedom means. I love how we impose our freedom by force. We cannot force people into freedom, they have to be free to make that decision on their own. We should lead by example, not by being hypocrites.
I have started reading a new book that is very interesting and explains a lot about the differences in politics and religions. It is written by Jonathan Haidt, it is called The righteous mind: Why good people are separated by politics and religion. You should check it out. It covers the different view points between religious, non-religious, and between republicans, democrats, and also libertarians. Great read so far.
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July 2, 2012 at 1:55 pm
I cannot speak for all political conservatives, but I think the main issue most of us have with Obamacare is that it expands the role of the federal government beyond what the founders intended for it to have (conservatives are all about a small, limited federal government). It’s not a matter of not wanting to help the less fortunate. Both sides want to do that. What they disagree on is how the problem should be solved, and in particular, where it should be solved. Conservatives don’t think it should be solved at the federal level.
As for Iraq, the support for the war was across both sides of the political divide. We had good legal cause for the war, and in the process we were able to free a people from tyranny. Unlike Obamacare, the war in Iraq has nothing to do with an excessively powerful federal government. The Constitution granted war powers to the executive branch, so exercising those powers is within the form of limited government the founders envisioned.
Jason
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July 4, 2012 at 12:12 am
Your faith is touching, but America’s deeds, its torture of “terror suspects” its rejection of habeas corpus, its aggressive wars, its warrantless surveillance, the politicization of the Supreme Court, granting of legal personhood to corporations, Presidential signing statements, presidential oversight of death squads etc etc etc give me the certain knowledge that America is now a rogue nation, lawless, fascist (this is the technical meaning of the term, as defined by Mussolini, ie corporate) and an empire not a republic.
It is far too late to hope that America the Republic is hanging by a thread.
It is dead.
It is time America awoke from that delusional idolatry which is their patriotism and see that they are not exceptional, to see instead that they are corrupted by their power, wealth and boastfulness, and are ripe for Divine judgement., and see that Wrath comes not only from sexual morality, but from the crimes I have described above which the US religious establishment actually cheerlead
Obama care is neither here nor there, though as a true left winger i oppose giving health care to those agents of corruption, the insurance companies.
The lawless of the US is to be seen by asking the US’s victims, or by asking those who are America’s conscience, who are , ironically, not christians: men like Chomsky, the late Howard Zinn, etc etc
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