In the health care saga’s latest twist, New York Senator, Chuck Schumer, has proposed a solution that would allow states to “opt out” of the public option, should there be one included with the final bill.
Talking Points Memo reports:
We’re chasing the ball on a new idea (is it a trial balloon? is it the magic answer?) to pass a health care bill with a public option that states–likely small, and conservative states–could choose not to participate in.
This idea sounds strangely familiar. In fact, it almost sounds like federalism.
But don’t expect Thomas Jefferson to get any credit here. While Chuck Schumer is busy reinventing the American political wheel, liberals are already lamenting those poor folks who would be left behind in backwards, freedom-loving Red States, which would undoubtedly choose to forgo the public option.
Not to mention the problem of finding enough tax dollars for such a massive boondoggle if large states like Texas with low unemployment rates choose not to participate.
Bottom line, this “compromise” should be rejected. The states do not need permission from the federal government to nullify laws the feds lack the authority to enforce in the first place. All they need are informed citizens and state officials willing to stand up for the supreme law of the land: the U.S. Constitution.
