Another Day That Will Live in Infamy

By now you have heard that the United States Supreme Court has validated the Constitutionality of Obamacare.  The ruling was a 5-4 vote, with Justice Kennedy, who usually votes with the more liberal side of the Court, voting with the minority, and Chief Justice Roberts, who usually is a strong voice on the conservative side of the Court, voting and writing the majority argument. 

What the Court did in effect was to rewrite the Law so that the individual mandate that everyone have health insurance or pay a penalty - that penalty now becomes a tax.  The Court stated that it was the right of the Congress to pass and collect taxes.  Yet, as you remember, as the Bill was going through the Congress, it was repeated over and over again that the penalty was not a tax.  But now it is a tax. 

What the Court said in its ruling is that the Court did what the Congress refused to do in order to make Obamacare constitutional.  I always grew up believing that it was not the privilege of the Supreme Court to write laws or even to change laws, but to declare whether a law violated the United States Constitution.  The precedent set by the Court today is dangerous.  From now on, the Court can impose on the American people laws that were not passed by the Congress.  In fact, the Supreme Court can make laws - and they are not accountable to the American people.  This could truly be "taxation without representation" - something that began a war back in 1775. 

FoxNews.com posted an editorial written by Karen Harned, the executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center.  Here is what she had to say: "Today marks a sad day in the history of America.  With this decision, Americans have lost the right to be left alone, which Justice William O Douglas once called 'the beginning of all freedom.'  It is painful to recognize that the liberties which our forefathers fought a revolution to secure have been lost.  But it is clear that our original constitutional system has been thrown out, and we are left with only the democratic process to preserve our rights.  That should be a sobering thought for anyone who values liberty."

Ms. Harned continues: "The significance of this decision cannot be overstated.  Our Founding Fathers were greatly concerned that by giving too much power to the federal government, they would be endangering our liberties.  So they sought to restrain the federal government by vesting it with only limited powers.  As James Madison said, the powers of the federal government were to be 'few and defined.'  Yet with this decision, it is clear that the powers of the federal government are no longer limited at all.  Our only remaining protections are with those liberties which were explicitly spelled out in the Bill of Rights, and even those are under assault.  So today Madison's vision of the American Republic has been turned on its head: The powers of the federal government are now broad and uncabined, and the freedoms of the people are few and confined."

She concludes: "We must now look forward, with great trepidation, into this brave new world, a world in which the Constitution has been undone, and federal power knows no limit.  This is a day that our Founders would never have wanted to see. All that they had fought to secure and preserve has been lost."  You can read the article in its entirety by going to
 www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/06/28/supreme-court-upholds-obamacare. 

The City of New York is deciding that they should regulate the size of the soft drinks you can purchase.  Other places are arguing that you must get counseling if you are obese.  Will we soon be mandated that we can only purchase American made automobiles, after all, the government is in the car-business?  If I want to drive a Honda or a Toyota or a Volkswagen I will have to pay a penalty - oops, I meant to say a tax.  And what if I want to cool my home to 68 degrees, will the government come in and order me to set my AC to 78 degrees or I will have to pay that "tax?"

Today we have taken a huge step down the slippery slope toward the implosion that is coming.  I shared with someone today, after hearing the announcement, that Pandora's Box has been fully opened, and now we get to see all the uglies that can crawl out. 

I believe that June 28, 2012 will be one of those dates that will live on in infamy, much like January 22, 1973, or December 7, 1941. 

With 68% of Americans stating that they disliked either all or parts of Obamacare, the question now becomes, "What will they do about it?"  We have heard from the Court.  We have heard from the President.  Now it is time to hear from the people.