Senator Sherrod Brown’s Town Hall meeting in Columbus was a great learning experience in preparation for the ones to follow. Now that we know how supporters of Obamacare have framed the issue, it is important to establish primacy with the debate. Supporters have focused on the rising cost of healthcare and insurance as well as the underinsured and uninsured. The blame has been placed on the free market and “greedy” insurance companies.When we answer to the pragmatic issues like how we’re happy with our insurance or that parts of the bill are suspect, we simply lose the debate and miss an opportunity to educate.
In my humble opinion, the following areas would establish primacy in this important dialog:
1. There is no Constitutional authority for the proposed healthare legislation
“We are sympathetic to those that have lost their insurance and the obstacles that they go through in order to have insurance or pay for their coverage. But…this is unconstitutional” Alicia Healy, Candidate for Columbus City Council
People need to be reminded that we are a self governing nation and what that means. For the federal government to provide healthcare to citizens, it must first forcibly take the property of the prosperous. If we as individuals do not have a moral right to steal the property of our neighbor to pay for our healthcare, such a power cannot be rightfully delegated to our governing representatives. This is why such a power was not enumerated in the Constitution’s Article I, Section 8.
2. Unconstitutional intervention by the Federal Government has caused the healthcare crisis
“I experienced medicine before they had managed care [introduced during the Nixon years] and patients were always charged the least and nobody went without medical care. The churches and volunteer hospitals and other groups took care of the people, but now, everybody has to have this so-called insurance, which doesn’t do a whole lot more than boost prices and then cause shortages and then there’s a demand for what? For more government and that’s where we are today.” – Congressman Ron Paul
Managed care was introduced during the Nixon years and was a program designed to force people into medical care and provide PPO and HMOs and tax credits for certain groups and not any others. We have been enduring managed care over these last 35 to 40 years and what has developed from this has been corporate medicine.
The fact is that there are tens of thousands of regulations and mandates that health providers and insurance companies must follow. The costs of adhering to these regulations are staggering.
Helpful Resources:
Text of Ron Paul’s Speech
Ron Paul Library
Blame Congress for HMOs
OTHER AREAS TO COVER:
The Federal Reserve has contributed to rising healthcare costs due to skyrocketing inflation
Socialized Medicine in other countries has not been successful
