Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
This Sunday morning finds me reflecting on the connection between my passion for limited, fiscally responsible government and the so-called social issues. Consider President Obama's abortifacients-for-all edict from the libertarian perspective. The President of the United States has just commanded, under penalty of law, that all health insurers provide a range of products free-of-charge in all private health insurance contracts. Insurers are prohibited from allowing customers to forego purchasing the "free" products. Meanwhile, under ObamaCare each private citizen is compelled, under penalty of law, to contract with another private party to enter into one of these presidentially-approved health insurance contracts.
And what, exactly, comprises this health insurance product that must be purchased by each citizen? Why, whatever the president wishes. Consider that Barack Obama just changed his mind on the design of his "reproductive health" package on Friday afternoon. His latest personal whim carrying equal force of law to the original proposal, which at least enjoyed the pretense of proceeding through an impartial administrative rule-making process.
Once established, under the Obama precedent there is nothing that a president of the United States cannot compel a private company to give away free-of-charge, and nothing that an individual citizen cannot be required to purchase.
This controversy is about far more than the Catholic Church, contraception, and the First Amendment. This crisis calls into question the continued viability of limited, representative government. There can be no economic freedom without freedom of contract between private parties--beginning with the freedom to decide whether or not to enter into any contract-- in the matter of "reproductive health" or anything else.
Unwittingly of course, President Obama has done the friends of liberty a service. His latest constitutional overreach highlights the common foundation binding economic conservatives, libertarians and social conservatives.
It is time for constitutionalists of all stripes to unite.
ObamaCare delenda est.
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
Thank you. Contraception, though a real issue, is just a proxy for the myriad things wrong with ObamaCare.
Apr '11
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
Agreed!
I am curious though. Of all the challenges to ObamaCare I have never heard one that questions the constitutionality of setting what is covered in a health plan. Have conservatives just accepted an expansive reading of the Commerce Clause to allow this? Even if the Individual Mandate is overturned, will this power of the Feds continue?
Aug '11
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
Indeed. It seems we need to walk this way, way back and start questioning exactly what the government can and can't regulate.
Why is the government allowed tell insurance companies what they have to cover? Shouldn't that be a free market issue? A consumer issue?
How did we get here?
Every time this issue comes up, we need to make a solemn oath to take it right back to first principles and not get distracted by the sub-issue of birth control.
Jul '11
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
It would seem to me that the answer is very simple. All insurance companies should pay for all healthcare needs of all people for any reason as charity. Citizens should give monthly charitable contributions based on their income to the same insurance companies to support them in their good works. The government would monitor this charitable work and fine those that step outside government determined guidelines. See it is easy, all you have to do is change the meaning of the words.
May '10
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
Thanks, Doctor.
Jun '10
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
Amen. It's not a stretch for me: I'm already both kind of conservative.
Jun '10
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
I agree, and it also exemplifies the whole anti-freedom, anti-religion, nanny state mindset of the left.
May '10
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
The idea that Congress gives a bureaucracy the power to just make these decisions arbitrarily is chilling. Bureaucracies are not accountable to the people; you can't vote them out. Yes, you can theoretically vote in people to modify the bureaucracy, but that rarely happens. This kind of system insulates the "servants" of the people from the people's control with several layers of indirection. It's Nancy Pelosi's dream come true-- a government that won't change much based on elections.
Feb '11
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
So well said Chris and thank you George.
What I don't understand is why this isn't a huge issue. Do people not know what is happening here. This isn't simply a mandate about buying health insurance. It represents a potential mandate about every aspect of American life that a government "official" may come up with on any given "Friday afternoon"!
And why aren't the GOP candidates all over this issue?
Feb '11
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
Tom Lindholtz:
... a proxy for the myriad things wrong with ObamaCare.
Should read, "... a proxy for the myriad things wrong with Obama." The problem lies at the source.
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
Chris, the administrative state effectively inverts the original system set up by the Constitution. Laws were supposed to be relatively difficult to enact, requiring the concurrence of the House, Senate and, lacking a super-majority in both houses, the president. Now, a bureaucracy can enact a regulation with the force of law on any given Friday afternoon and the sole recourse of the people is to hope that the House, Senate and president agree to legislation stopping the new law.
So now rather than a government with limited power over the people we have a republic where the people have a strictly limited ability to interfere with ongoing regulatory torment.
Nov '11
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
You might be interested in my post on the member feed:
http://ricochet.com/member-feed/DrRich-On-the-HHS-Rule
Oct '10
Re: Economic and Social Conservatives, Unite!
Obama delenda est!