Transfer of power in healthcare

Transfer of Power

Our Founding Fathers gave us an awesome form of government, a Constitutional Republic, unique in history in that it recognized:
All men are created equal
We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights
Life
Liberty
Pursuit of Happiness
Governments are created by the governed to serve in limited functions
Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The Founders were painfully aware that any delegated power would be abused. It’s human nature.

They constructed a 3-legged government with the expectation that two Branches would ride herd on the third so that no Branch could ever exceed their defined authorities.

They clearly defined the responsibilities and authorities of each branch.

They provided the Bill (list) of Rights over which the federal government is specifically denied any authority, including specific prohibitions against presuming any authorities not specifically delineated (9th and 10th Amendments).

The government was a voluntary union of Sovereign States created to deal with limited issues that impacted all Citizens. The House of Representatives was created so that individual citizens would have a clear voice through their elected (local) representative. The Senate provided each State with a voice (Senators were originally appointed by their State government until it was foolishly changed by the 17th Amendment).

The Founders believed elected representatives would be bound by honor, integrity and Biblical principles (independent of any specific sect) to do what is right in fulfilling their responsibilities.

There are specific reasons why government control of any activity is predestined to fail. First, our modern representatives are solely driven by raising the money required to get elected and re-elected. The most just representative can do no good if they are not in office. The Bible teaches that “the borrower is slave to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). Those who can afford to pay for access get the ear and action of the Representative(s).

Any law that gives government control over any function can be manipulated to give advantage to one entity over another: either from outright grant, or by exception. In return for contributions, legislation is adjusted to the advantage of the donor. Although our Representatives are elected to serve the interests of the Citizen, in fact they serve the interests of those who contribute significantly to their election or re-election.
In the process, the interests of the Citizen are subrogated to those of special interests.

Adding insult to injury, it is the Citizen that is taxed to truly pay for the advantages granted to the special interests. It is important to note that the Founding Fathers denied the federal government any authority to tax Citizens directly. This critical restriction was destroyed by the 16th Amendment. Citizens will have no protection until the 16th Amendment is repealed as it gives Congress blank checks that they can write at will.

By granting the federal government any authority on any topic, it establishes a point of contact (the Representative(s) that is easy corrupted by “donations”. This is why the Founders specifically limited the responsibilities granted to the federal government; and why they specifically limited the authorities granted to the federal government.

The tax laws themselves are a tool to subvert the political process. In 2006, 66% of those filing as “Head of Household” paid no tax (http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1410.html ). How difficult is it to get voters to agree to any benefit program when they believe that it won’t personally cost them anything?

Passage of the 16th Amendment was facilitated by the assurance that only those making more than $200K (in 1913 dollars) would pay income tax. Today the federal tax code is more than 66,000 pages, making it absolutely unintelligible. It is obviously being widely ignored by those in government as exemplified by Daschle, Rangel, Geithner, et al while common citizens live in fear of the absolute and arbitrary power of the IRS.

Giving the federal government authority over any function is assurance that the Citizen loses control over that function; and simultaneously it becomes an opportunity for political corruption, graft, and abuse.

Unlike the free market that must respond to customer demands or perish, government is in a position to mandate behavior without recourse by the governed. Some claim that healthcare must be taken out of the hands of the insurance companies because of their “outrageous profits” that make healthcare too expensive. This position fails to consider that the insurance companies do nothing that isn’t permitted by government regulators. It also fails to acknowledge the inherent corruption of our Representatives. It also fails to acknowledge the gross incompetence and inefficiency of every government program.

Giving the federal government control over healthcare will create the same environment that enabled the federal government to destroy the global economy by forcing banks to lend money to those unable or unwilling to repay it as a result of the federal government interference of financial markets.

Whenever Citizens transfer power from themselves to the federal government, the Citizens suffer abuse.

Government is best that governs least (Thomas Paine).