Dear Friend:
Earlier today the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling on Obamacare. By the slimmest of margins, 5-4, the Court held that the core of the law – the "individual mandate" that would require every American to purchase insurance – is Constitutional under Congress's taxing power. This means the law has been upheld.
Our founding fathers would be appalled. This is a terrible disappointment to all of us who believe that the federal government must be restrained by the Constitution, and that Obamacare clearly exceeds these limits. Unfortunately, a majority on the Court did not accept this argument. I agree with the conservative dissent, which stated:
"What is absolutely clear, affirmed by the text of the 1789 Constitution, by the Tenth Amendment ratified in 1791, and by innumerable cases of ours in the 220 years since, is that there are structural limits upon federal power—upon what it can prescribe with respect to private conduct, and upon what it can impose upon the sovereign States."
Today's decision only underscores the importance of our elections this fall. A Republican President and a Republican Congress could still repeal Obamacare and replace it with targeted, free-market solutions to the legitimate problems that exist in our health care system. A Republican President could appoint more Supreme Court Justices who understand the importance of holding the federal government to its Constitutional restraints.
The decision also underscores the importance of electing an Attorney General who will fight for you and your Constitutional rights. I have consistently opposed Obamacare; in 2010, I was one of the co-patrons of House Bill 10, which provided that no citizen of Virginia could be forced to purchase health insurance. If Virginia elects me in 2013, I will carry on Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's fight to defend the Constitution and protect your rights.
For those of you interested in more details, feel free to follow this link to the Supreme Court's full opinion online.
Rob Bell
Delegate, 58th District
No comments:
Post a Comment