Attorney General Schuette calls it a failure

Attorney General Schuette sent out an email about the Supreme Court arguments over Obamacare.    Schuette says:

“President Obama has come up with an entirely new theory, namely, that the ‘Commerce Clause’ of the Constitution, which regulates economic activity, can now be used to regulate un-economic activity – your failure to buy something; in this case, insurance.”

Schuette’s characterization imperils the Peoples’ freedom.  Schuette refers to “your failure” and that raises 2 implications.   First, that a “failure” exists.   Schuette is wrong and Schuette is dangerous to make the claim.   The fact that a person does or does not have insurance is not a basis to declare the person has failed.   People are free, free to have insurance, free to NOT have insurance.   Free people do NOT need Bill Schuette declaring that they are failures.    Secondly, notice that Bill Schuette refers to the failure as “your(s)”.   He didn’t write “our failure” or “the peoples’ failure” or “the State’s failure”.   He put the blame on us, and by implication he absolves himself.   In other words, he is NOT part of “us”.   

Incidentally, Schuette also failed to identify the principle of economic freedom terminated by the Obamacare mandate.   As a result, the liberal Supreme Court justices were able to argue that the mandate prevents non-insured persons from effecting the insurance rates of insured persons.   Thus, Justices Kagan and Ginsberg commented that un-insured persons do engage in commerce by raising the rates of insured persons.

The failure belongs to Schuette.  Ultra conservatives should be advised that “national health insurance” is an issue that has been promoted by both democrat and republican progressives – including Ronald Reagan (cobra) – and obviously including Schuette’s presidential champion.

copy of Schuette’s letter is below.

Respectfully submitted by your humble servant,

Joe Baublis

Dear JOE,

This week, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, perhaps better known as Obamacare. I took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States of America. I have joined with a majority of Attorneys General across our nation in opposing this unconstitutional statute and to halt this massive federal overreach into the lives and pocketbooks of hard working Americans. Here are the main points of my argument and what will be discussed before the Supreme Court of the United States:

1. Unprecedented. In America’s 235 year history, the power to order citizens to purchase a product has never been proposed by any political party or President. President Obama has come up with an entirely new theory, namely, that the ‘Commerce Clause’ of the Constitution, which regulates economic activity, can now be used to regulate un-economic activity – your failure to buy something; in this case, insurance. At a time when many countries are entering a new spring of freedom and democracy, our country is going in the opposite direction, toward less individual freedom and more power concentrated in the hands of the federal government.
2. Unlimited. If Obamacare is allowed to stand – in other words, if the federal government can compel you to purchase a product, or face stiff fines – then the question becomes: where does it stop? What limits – if any – are there on the power of the government? For example, what is there to stop the government from ordering citizens to purchase shares of stock in the now-bankrupt green energy company known as Solyndra? Or Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Can the government compel you to buy a certain amount of fruits and vegetables for your diet? Can they fine you for buying too much beef or bread? Is this what America’s Founding Fathers envisioned when they crafted the Constitution? No way.
3. Dangerous. President Obama is looking to combine an unprecedented legal theory with unlimited power by the federal government. But if history has taught us that the power to tax is the power to destroy, then what does the power from this unprecedented and unlimited combination lead to? The federal government already has the power to tax. We’ll re-learn that lesson soon enough, on April 15th. President Obama is promoting a radical expansion of government power, far beyond the power to tax. Under Obamacare, you can be fined and penalized for what you don’t buy – and the government will not only decide what you must buy, but whether or not you can afford it. Today, the mandate is insurance. And, not just any insurance. Obamacare also dictates what type of coverage, and what must be included in the insurance you are mandated to purchase, including abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of whether that goes against your religious beliefs or not. That is why this case is a turning point for our country. And why I am unalterably opposed to Obamacare.

In 1974, Michigan’s only President, Gerald Ford, told a joint session of Congress: “A government big enough to give you everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have…” Gerald Ford was right then, and his words take on even greater meaning today, as the Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality of Obamacare. If Obamacare is allowed to stand, then our government truly will have ” … the power to take away everything that you have.”

Our Founding Fathers were worried about the concentration of power and a large, overreaching government. They were right to worry. And today, those worries have come to pass. That is why I am committed to fighting Obamacare tooth and nail.

Sincerely,

Bill Schuette
Attorney General

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