Tag Archives | Health Care Freedom

Health Care Freedom of Choice Constitutional Amendment – It is Time Georgia

By on February 26, 2013 in Constitution, Nullification, State Sovereignty

The Citizens of the State of Georgia need to make their voices heard in this moment of history.

Washington D.C. has felt it appropriate to make its influence known in every county across these States United. It behooves The People to stand up in defense of the rights and liberties which were secured to us in the Constitution of the United States. In the name of general welfare and safety, the federal legislation machine manufactures and spits out unconstitutional laws in order to control us in the realms of  healthcare, gun ownership, education and property rights to name just a few.

Judge Andrew Napolitano stated a truth for the people to stand on in a commentary concerning President’s Day:

All presidents but Jefferson have argued that their first job was to keep us safe. All presidents but Jefferson were wrong. If you read the Constitution, you will see that the President’s first job – as Jefferson understood well – is to keep us free.

And The People are standing… The calls for nullification of  many over-reaching unconstitutional federal laws can be heard throughout the country and are now daily news. The nullification naysayers, as well, continue their dribble at the risk of their own liberty and freedom. Continue Reading →

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If You Have an Ally, Don’t Go It Alone

By on July 5, 2012 in Federalism, Government, Health Care

Cross posted from the Pennsylvania Tenth Amendment Center.

There is a point that I think I’ve been trying to get to for much of the time that I’ve been working with the Tenth Amendment Center.  Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve done a very good job at getting there.  I’ve written a few articles that skirted past it and danced around it, but I kept missing this particular target.  It’s something that we probably all know, but maybe we don’t all know that we know it.

I got close to this idea it in The Individual and the Tenth, where I talked about the role of the individual in resisting the federal government during the “Whiskey Rebellion”.  Apparently, though, I didn’t really have things clear enough in my own mind at the time, because I only got part way there.  It came closer to the surface some time last year, when I drew up this diagram, intended to depict the proper Constitutional balance of power.

Continue Reading →

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A Busy Week for the Tenth Amendment in Pennsylvania

By on May 23, 2012 in Health Care, Liberty, State Sovereignty

According to the West Chester Patch, two Tenth Amendment legislative items are on the House calendar in Pennsylvania this week.

First, the House State Government Committee will take up SB10, “A Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, providing for health care services“, in a hearing beginning at 9am tomorrow. This legislation proposes an amendment to our state Constitution which prohibits:

  • laws requiring an individual to purchase health insurance;
  • penalties for direct payment for health care services; and
  • penalties, taxes, assessments or fees for failure to purchase health insurance. Continue Reading →
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Will Pennsylvania Nullify Health Mandates?

By on April 2, 2012 in News

After having been reviewed multiple times since January 31st 2011, the Pennsylvania Senate passed Senate Bill 10 (SB10) by a vote of  29-19.  The bill is a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Pennsylvania which would prohibit any government from requiring the Pennsylvanians to buy health insurance. It states, in part –

“no law shall be enacted requiring a person to obtain or maintain health insurance coverage”

Pennsylvania Senate District 25′s Joseph B. Scarnati is the prime sponsor of the bill which still requires a vote by the General Assembly’s House of Representatives. Once fully passed by both houses, it can be placed on the ballot for a statewide referendum.

Already, ten states have passed similar bills, commonly referred to as the Health Care Freedom Act. With the current SCOTUS review of Obamacare, this action along with many others currently in process in other states, sends a clear message that Americans are not content with the Federal Government encroaching on their liberties.

The amendment, if approved by the people of Pennsylvania, would also prevent the federal government from imposing fines or penalties against people who don’t buy insurance — up to 2.5 percent of household income. Continue Reading →

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Rand Paul Reads TenthAmendmentCenter.com

By on May 16, 2011 in Big Government, Commentary, Constitution, Health Care, Tenthers

Or, at least, we think alike.

The junior Senator from Kentucky recently said that to believe in a ”right” to health care one must support slavery:

I’m a physician. That means you have a right to come to my house and conscript me. It means you believe in slavery.

He’s right of course. As I pointed out nearly two years ago, it is impossible for government to grant a positive right, like health care, to anyone without first taking the good or service it is granting away from someone else, like a doctor.

As I said then

Whether by forcibly appropriating and redistributing the money to purchase care for those who lack it, or by arbitrarily devaluing the time and effort of those who provide it, once a government mandate supplants voluntary exchange, coercion must be used to exercise that “right” to health care.

But how can taking what belongs to another person (their money, time, or effort) through legislative force be a right?

Is that not the very essence of slavery?

It is, and it’s nice to see someone as prominent and influential as Rand Paul has the guts to say it.

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Oklahoma governor puts taxpayers’ money where her mouth is

By on April 15, 2011 in Announcements, Big Government, Constitution, Delegated Powers, Federal Funding, Federalism, Founding Principles, Health Care, Liberty, Nullification, Originalism, Sovereignty Movement, State Sovereignty, Tenthers

Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin just set an important precedent. By rejecting $54.6 million in federal money to begin implementation of ObamaCare, the governor has firmly set herself against the unconstitutional law and with the citizens of her state.

From Fox News:

To make it clear Oklahoma will develop its own plan, the state will not accept a $54.6 million federal grant for setting up a system where Oklahomans could shop for health insurance, Gov. Mary Fallin said Thursday.

Fallin said the state instead will use state and private money to form the system.

This is a step that advocates of nullification in many states have long sought. After all, it’s pretty obvious that threats of non-compliance with the feds are empty to the point of pathetic when state budgets still depend on grants of federal money (which is siphoned from their citizens to begin with).

However

Fallin’s announcement reverses her decision two months ago to accept the federal money.

Obviously the governor is bowing to some form of public pressure. In this age of  rampant and flagrant TSA molestation, it’s nice to see that pressure can still occasionally be successfully applied to public servants.

Perhaps other states whose legislatures have passed a version of the Health Care Freedom Act should consider following Oklahoma’s example.

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Oklahoma, Georgia Step Towards Health Care Freedom

By on March 30, 2010 in Health Care, Sovereignty Movement

The legislatures in Oklahoma and Georgia both took a step closer to health care freedom within their state boundaries. Both states are considering legislation known as the “Health Care Freedom Act,” which, is passed, would make public policy for the state that every person within the state is and shall be free to choose or decline to choose any mode of securing health care services “without penalty or threat of penalty by the federal government of the United States of America.”

In Oklahoma, State Constitutional Amendments (HJR1054 and SJR59) have been approved by both houses of the legislature, and approval of amended versions are all that’s needed to put it before voters for approval in the coming election in November.

In Georgia, while similar constitutional amendments failed to garner the 2/3 vote to pass and are being reconsidered, Senate Bill 317 (SB317) passed by a vote of 31-16 and is in the House awaiting further consideration.

The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution codifies in law that the federal government is one of limited, delegated powers – and that all powers not enumerated in the Constitution are reserve “to the States, respectively, or to the People.”

The founders, during the time of the Constitution’s ratification, made clear that a vast majority of regulatory powers would be left in the states – including social services, agriculture, mining, and more. Click here to read more.

Virginia, Utah, and Idaho have already passed a Health Care Freedom Act, and the Governor of each state signed it into law in March. More than two dozen other states are considering similar legislation or state constitutional amendments, including Arizona, where in November, voters will have the opportunity to approve or deny the resolution which already passed both state houses last year.

CLICK HERE to view the Tenth Amendment Center’s Health Care Freedom Act legislative tracking page

The Tenth Amendment Center has released the Federal Health Care Nullification Act, which directly nullifies the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” on a state level. Click here to learn more.

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Intellectual Consistency on the Left? Now That’s What I Call Progress

By on February 19, 2010 in Republocrats, Sovereignty Movement, The Opposition

work-in-progressEven before recent health care nullification efforts, writers at the Tenth Amendment Center were calling for a federalism-driven debate on standard liberal issues like gay marriage, REAL ID, and medical marijuana. Finally, it seems, someone on the Left has recognized the wisdom of that strategy.

I almost fell out of my chair this morning upon reading a post on the popular progressive blog FireDogLake:

…progressives need to support the Arizona Health Care Freedom Act.

Protecting Americans from corporatist greed and influence should be at the heart of what we are about.

And– it helped get Obama elected– no mandates. period. And no nut job at Aetna or in the government should keep you from spending your own money on legal health care.

Supporters have been accused of “nullification” — a not subtle claim that somehow if these efforts succeed, and are contrary to federal health care law (in both House and Senate versions), supporters seek a pre-civil war mentality.

And, of course, there is federal supremacy– so the efforts are futile.

But, what of DOMA? Aren’t Progressives in favor of same sex marriage via state efforts the same? Umm, yes.

But what of federal drug laws? Aren’t Progressives in favor of liberal medical marijuana state laws the same? Umm, yes.

But what of the right to die laws like in Oregon? The SCOTUS has actually decided IN FAVOR of Oregon in this state’s rights case… even though there are federal laws against it.

Progressives must be consistent intellectually— especially when conservatives are not. [emphasis added]

Support the Health Care Freedom Act in Arizona and around the country.

It is hard to overstate the significance of this point. If the Left as well as the Right can start to see that decentralization of power through federalism is the answer to intractable partisan gridlock and divisive culture wars, the tenthers can join forces with those on both sides who only desire more freedom and prosperity.

And then Washington’s corrupt, corporatist, top-down power structure will really be in trouble.

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Health Care Freedom Bill Passes VA House

By on February 12, 2010 in Nullification, Sovereignty Movement, State Sovereignty

More good news coming out of the Virginia General Assembly Thursday:

Del. Bob Marshall’s health freedom bill, HB 10, passed the House of Delegates 72-26.

The Senate bills on this issue, SB 283, SB 311 and SB 417, all passed the House Commerce and Labor committee by 17-5 margins and are headed to the floor.

At this point, several versions of the Health Care Freedom Act, which would effectively nullify various unconstitutional aspects of proposed federal health care legislation, have passed the Senate (SB417, SB283, SB311), and another has passed the House (HB10). If and when either chamber passes the other’s bill, Bob McDonnell will have the privilege of signing Health Care Freedom into law in Virginia.

And, though he may not realize it yet, Gov. McDonnell will also be delivering an important message to the politicians in Washington: Get back into your constitutional box, or We the People will put you there.

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Health Care Sovereignty for Colorado

By on February 9, 2010 in Health Care, Sovereignty Movement

colorado-welcomeOn Friday February 5th, 17 House Representatives and 2 Senators in the Colorado General Assembly cosponsored new legislation limiting the federal government’s power to enforce health care legislation in this state. Please make sure this legislation passes by contacting all members of the General Assembly and ask them to cosponsor this bill.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 10-1009
CONCERNING THE STATE OF COLORADO’S SOVEREIGNTY UNDER THE TENTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OVER ALL POWERS NOT GRANTED TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND NOT PROHIBITED TO THE STATES.

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads: “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”; and

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment provides that powers not granted to the federal government nor prohibited to the states are reserved to the states and to the people, limits the scope of federal power, and prescribes that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; however, the states are currently treated as agents of the federal government; and

WHEREAS, In the American system, sovereignty is defined as the final authority, the people, not the government, are sovereign, and all power not delegated by the people to government is retained; and

WHEREAS, Powers have been exercised, past and present, by federal administrations, and under the leadership of both Democrats and Republicans, that infringe on the sovereignty of the people of this state in violation of the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the United States Congress may not commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights that the federal government may not usurp; and

WHEREAS, Because health care rights are not guaranteed or enumerated in the Constitution of the United States, decisions on how to best administer health care programs should be left to the individual states; and

WHEREAS, The citizens and legislators of Colorado know their 18 state’s needs better than the federal government, can develop a better plan for management of health care in our state than what is in the current proposed federal health care legislation, and need to be able to make our own decisions regarding what is in the best interests of this state; and

WHEREAS, The health care legislation that the federal government is proposing is in violation of state sovereignty and the states’ right to determine their own management of health care; and

WHEREAS, Certain components of the proposed federal health care legislation, such as taxation of higher-cost health care plans, are an affront to an individual’s right to self-determination; and

WHEREAS, Higher-cost health care plans are used by many citizens, including those who have preexisting conditions, disabilities, and chronic illnesses; disabled veterans; the elderly; employees of small businesses; and those in dangerous professions such as firefighting and coal mining; and

WHEREAS, Restricting and singling out these types of plans is a violation of an individual’s right to determine the health care decisions that are best for the individual and the individual’s family and is in conflict with current state policies; and

WHEREAS, Under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, Colorado reserves the right not to be subjected to or required to participate in new proposed federal health legislation; now, therefore, Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty-seventh General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:

That we, the citizens of the State of Colorado and the members of the Colorado General Assembly, hereby:

(1) Affirm Colorado’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not granted to the federal government and not prohibited to the states;
(2) Demand that the federal government, as Colorado’s agent, cease and desist immediately all actions that are beyond the scope of the federal government’s constitutionally delegated powers;
(3) Reserve the opportunity and ability of the State of Colorado and its citizens, under the state’s and the people’s Tenth Amendment rights, to opt out of any obligations due or participation required in any new federal health care legislation; and
(4) Further reserve the right to approve or reject the State of Colorado’s participation in any federal health care plan or program, either by a vote of the people or by vote of the members of the Colorado General Assembly.

Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to Governor Bill Ritter, President Barack Obama, United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the members of Colorado’s Congressional Delegation.

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