Nothing free about mandates (UPDATED)

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

- 10th amendement of the Constitution





As we wind down Freedom week, we are left asking ourselves precisely what is in the Constitution that permits the government to force its citizens to purchase the services of specific private businesses or face a fine or jail time as Pelosicare currently mandates?

The Constitution and specifically the bill of rights is negative in nature in that it contains a laundry list of things the federal government is prohibited from doing. Forcing people to buy health insurance would certainly seem to violate the spirit and intent of the Constitution.

We are told by proponents of Pelosicare that signing up for healthcare is the right and patriotic thing to do as to do otherwise would be "gaming the system" and not "paying your fair share". Applying that logic in a single-payer system, where all the money is going into the same pot, is it a stretch for the government to start dictating what sort of lifestyles would be “gaming the system”?

Think about it: if the government reserves for itself the right to force you to buy health insurance in a single-payer system, what then prevents them from dictating how it is the game is played once everyone is in the program. Are people who smoke, drink to excess, eat poorly and don’t exercise “gaming the system” because they will require more medical care through their lives than those people who live healthier lifestyles? Applying the logic of Pelosicare proponents, absolutely!

Mark it down: Whatever hellish form of government-managed healthcare reform gets put on the President’s desk for signature, the enforceable by fines and/or jail time Guidelines for Healthy Lifestyles and Decisions will follow shortly.


(UPDATE #1): So what was that were saying about “guidelines”?

From the U.K.’s Times Online:

Health and safety inspectors are to be given unprecedented access to family homes to ensure that parents are protecting their children from household accidents.

New guidance drawn up at the request of the Department of Health urges councils and other public sector bodies to “collect data” on properties where children are thought to be at “greatest risk of unintentional injury”.

Council staff will then be tasked with overseeing the installation of safety devices in homes, including smoke alarms, stair gates, hot water temperature restrictors, oven guards and window and door locks.

The draft guidance by a committee at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has been criticised as intrusive and further evidence of the “creeping nanny state”.

Creeping? If that is the British standard for the “creeping nanny state” that goes miles in explaining why the country is in the state it is right now.