If the government can mandate the purchase of insurance, it can do anything.
By ORRIN G. HATCH, J. KENNETH BLACKWELL AND KENNETH A. KLUKOWSKI
President Obama's health-care bill is now moving toward final passage. The policy issues may be coming to an end, but the legal issues are certain to continue because key provisions of this dangerous legislation are unconstitutional. Legally speaking, this legislation creates a target-rich environment. We will focus on three of its more glaring constitutional defects.
First, the Constitution does not give Congress the power to require that Americans purchase health insurance. Congress must be able to point to at least one of its powers listed in the Constitution as the basis of any legislation it passes. None of those powers justifies the individual insurance mandate. Congress's powers to tax and spend do not apply because the mandate neither taxes nor spends. The only other option is Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce.
Showing posts with label Better times. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Better times. Show all posts
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Why the Health-Care Bills Are Unconstitutional
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Businesses pay too much in taxes
The following fair and balanced letter from clear thinking Jet Beckum appears in the Aiken Standard today.The answer to his question" when will these politicians wake up" is clear. Not until you the voters send them a very clear message. Term limits would be good but probably not achievable. So the only thing to do is find better candidates and throw out most of the incumbents.Support the Tea Party Express. It is making a difference!
There are a few more thoughtful letters in the Aiken Standard today. One is about the current problems at SRS by Bob Garvin and the other is from Pete Seaha in answer to a Liam McGinley letter. Both are worth reading. Go here to read all the letters and comments.
There are a few more thoughtful letters in the Aiken Standard today. One is about the current problems at SRS by Bob Garvin and the other is from Pete Seaha in answer to a Liam McGinley letter. Both are worth reading. Go here to read all the letters and comments.
In Thursday morning's Aiken Standard our local politicians seemed surprised by more budget cuts. Roland Smith, I quote, "There's not a thing we can do about it."Bill Clyburn: "I'm disappointed because I thought the budget would be on an upswing."
Shane Massey: "Five percent (cut) is more than needed."
When will these politicians wake up and get in the real world? This country has been in a serious recession since the fall of 2006 when we turned over the federal government to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. I'm not excusing many of the other party who surely contributed to this downfall, but the facts are since 2006 businesses have been promised nothing but more taxes, more interference and harassment. This has not only happened at the federal level but also at the state and local levels.
Ask any building contractor, any Realtor, or any small-business owner if they think the government has aided them in the past three years and I don't mean a handout. Let's take one at a time - our Aiken County School Board, Chairman Christine Harkins was quoted as saying, it's a good time to spend $150 million for our schools."
Guess who pays the highest rate of school taxes? Not parents, but your local businesses. The City Council and mayor instead of reducing taxes on businesses, continue to spend more tax money on questionable projects and more government controlled groups such as the Aiken Corporation. Our County Council instead of making this county attractive to all businesses (existing ones) are secretly giving away tax money to The X- Project. While the same thing goes on at the state level - read Sen. Ryberg's column in Thursday's Aiken Standard.
Why anybody would be surprised to learn that businesses can not supply government's insatiable appetite for more taxpayers' money is beyond my comprehension.
If our business community does not prosper, then we had better accept the fact that we will not build more schools, and cuts in government programs are just beginning.
Jet Beckum
Aiken
Labels:
Better times,
economic,
elections,
POLITICAL PRES OBAMA
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Deja Vu
It seems to me I heard this song before! If you want some other thoughts that seem as though they were written yesterday I recommend ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand.
Labels:
Better times,
COMEDY,
education,
POLITICAL,
POLITICAL PRES OBAMA
Saturday, May 16, 2009
SC Policy Council Weekly Review
Important news from the the South Carolina Policy Council
Five Myths About the General Assembly's State Budget
The General Assembly approved the second-largest budget in state history this week at $20.7 billion. Governor Sanford has until Tuesday to issue vetoes. This budget increases spending more than $700 million above the $19.97 billion the state spent this year.
The budget increases fees on businesses and taxpayers, directs money toward the government-driven "pyramids and pillars" economy, and dramatically increases federal control of state government. Legislative leaders have argued the state is in a severe crisis and that a quick influx of federal cash is the only way to avoid firing teachers and closing prisons. A closer look at the budget reveals that is not the case. Below are some of the myths about this year's state budget, and the truth behind them more
Five Myths About the General Assembly's State Budget
The General Assembly approved the second-largest budget in state history this week at $20.7 billion. Governor Sanford has until Tuesday to issue vetoes. This budget increases spending more than $700 million above the $19.97 billion the state spent this year.
The budget increases fees on businesses and taxpayers, directs money toward the government-driven "pyramids and pillars" economy, and dramatically increases federal control of state government. Legislative leaders have argued the state is in a severe crisis and that a quick influx of federal cash is the only way to avoid firing teachers and closing prisons. A closer look at the budget reveals that is not the case. Below are some of the myths about this year's state budget, and the truth behind them more
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Great Dance Routine- Cagney and Hope
The following is too good not to pass on. What talent!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Authors of Their Own Doom
Their follows an excerpt from a very interesting story about the decline of newspapers.To read the entire blog and the many interesting comments go here.
"Authors of Their Own Doom
By William Murchison on 2.2.09 @ 6:10AM
Just what I needed: more bad news about the news business. My business, one way or another since 1964, when I labored not only as general assignments reporter and feature writer for a small-town newspaper but also took photos and, yes, converted same to plastic engravings via that technological wonder, the Fairchild Scan-A-Graver."
"Authors of Their Own Doom
By William Murchison on 2.2.09 @ 6:10AM
Just what I needed: more bad news about the news business. My business, one way or another since 1964, when I labored not only as general assignments reporter and feature writer for a small-town newspaper but also took photos and, yes, converted same to plastic engravings via that technological wonder, the Fairchild Scan-A-Graver."
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Common Sense Obituary
You may have learned of its death before but we must all work to revive it.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.
Friday, January 16, 2009
There's a raid on; should we join up?
The Augusta Chronicle editorial of January 16 is very thoughtful. The burgeoning bailout process places those political leaders with principles in a very difficult position. Do you get in line to get your "fair share" or do you make a genuine attempt to put your city, county or state on a sound financial footing. Governor Sanford has taken a principled stand and is getting hammered for it.Ironically from the very legislators who ignored the Governor's attempts to rein in spending. Fortunately the City of Aiken has managed it's finances very well and we have no serious problem but we must guard our reserves.To read the entire editorial and comments go here.
"There's a raid on; should we join up?
First the troubled companies, then the states, now every hamlet in America is invited to run into the vault
Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
Friday, January 16, 2009
The recent sentiment from one Augusta commissioner is probably being echoed thousands of times across the country: Are we going to be getting our fair share from the upcoming Obama stimulus plan?
And this was from a discussion about bus service.
You know, Mayor Deke Copenhaver is probably right when he figures the "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects Augusta is proposing for federal stimulus funding are worthy investments -- and that if the money doesn't come here, it will just go somewhere else.
"Despite including $131 million to this point in the upcoming (special purpose local option sales tax), which will be primarily focused on infrastructure, we still have over $400 million in identified infrastructure needs. Ultimately, to recruit new businesses and to take care of the day-to-day needs of our citizens, these infrastructure issues need to be addressed."
Still, what we are seeing right now is nothing short of a raid on the U.S. Treasury.It's only somewhat neater than, say, the looting of a store during a disaster.But if the raid -- first by companies, then by states, now by cities -- is legal, you still have to wonder how constitutional it is.Not at all, in our view.
It harks back to the warning often attributed (rightly or wrongly) to Alexander Tytler:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy ..."
Copenhaver acknowledges he has such concerns."I very much understand your point about the raid on the Treasury. I also feel that we are passing the buck along to future generations, which is of great concern to me."YET, HE POINTS out, "If the funds are available in a competitive grant format, do we simply not apply in order to make a point, while shovel ready projects that would be eligible sit on the drawing board? From a real-world perspective, would we then not be put at a competitive disadvantage with cities of our size who had taken advantage of the infrastructure funding and addressed their infrastructure needs?" Sadly, yes.
States and cities seeking money from Washington "would be acting absolutely correctly, in terms of their own economic interest," says syndicated columnist Walter Williams. "And the reason why is that if I don't bring it back to Virginia, it doesn't mean that Virginians will pay a lower federal income tax; all that it means is that Tennessee will get it instead.
Once legalized theft begins, it pays for everybody to participate."There is a mind set that is, before your very eyes, becoming set in concrete: that the federal government exists to solve our problems, to bail us out at every level of public or even private life. That the government can be all things to all people. That no one alive today need feel any pain, make any sacrifice, as long as the federal government can borrow money from other countries to keep us comfortable until our children and grandchildren can somehow pay it back.
It really wasn't that long ago that another charismatic young president announced to the world that Americans would "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship ..." He implored us to "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."JFK's spirit is dead. America killed it.
IN ITS PLACE is a people with a perpetual hand out, a nation where we ask not what we can do for our country, but what our country can do for us. Where we worry not about where the money's coming from, but whether we're getting our share.Who can save us from this spiral into socialism and government dependence?And isn't it the very soul of America that's at stake?
The way we see it, there's only one entity that can save us. And that's us.Long term, we need to put a lock on the Treasury vault and throw away the key so none of us -- not Georgians, not Virginians, and certainly not members of Congress -- can get inside.That lock is called a constitutional amendment prohibiting the use of federal money for state and local projects or for anything that doesn't have to do with the basic functions of the federal government.
Maybe we need a double lock -- the second one being an amendment, or part of the above amendment, that requires Congress to balance the budget and to limit budgetary increases to something less than the growth in the gross domestic product.
Those are long-term solutions that will be insanely difficult, though surely worth it.
All we have to go on until then will be principle and discipline. And there's precious little of either these days in Washington, or at any level of government.For now, it appears there's no stopping this raid on the Treasury.Except, perhaps, one person, one city, one state at a time."
From the Friday, January 16, 2009 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
"There's a raid on; should we join up?
First the troubled companies, then the states, now every hamlet in America is invited to run into the vault
Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
Friday, January 16, 2009
The recent sentiment from one Augusta commissioner is probably being echoed thousands of times across the country: Are we going to be getting our fair share from the upcoming Obama stimulus plan?
And this was from a discussion about bus service.
You know, Mayor Deke Copenhaver is probably right when he figures the "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects Augusta is proposing for federal stimulus funding are worthy investments -- and that if the money doesn't come here, it will just go somewhere else.
"Despite including $131 million to this point in the upcoming (special purpose local option sales tax), which will be primarily focused on infrastructure, we still have over $400 million in identified infrastructure needs. Ultimately, to recruit new businesses and to take care of the day-to-day needs of our citizens, these infrastructure issues need to be addressed."
Still, what we are seeing right now is nothing short of a raid on the U.S. Treasury.It's only somewhat neater than, say, the looting of a store during a disaster.But if the raid -- first by companies, then by states, now by cities -- is legal, you still have to wonder how constitutional it is.Not at all, in our view.
It harks back to the warning often attributed (rightly or wrongly) to Alexander Tytler:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy ..."
Copenhaver acknowledges he has such concerns."I very much understand your point about the raid on the Treasury. I also feel that we are passing the buck along to future generations, which is of great concern to me."YET, HE POINTS out, "If the funds are available in a competitive grant format, do we simply not apply in order to make a point, while shovel ready projects that would be eligible sit on the drawing board? From a real-world perspective, would we then not be put at a competitive disadvantage with cities of our size who had taken advantage of the infrastructure funding and addressed their infrastructure needs?" Sadly, yes.
States and cities seeking money from Washington "would be acting absolutely correctly, in terms of their own economic interest," says syndicated columnist Walter Williams. "And the reason why is that if I don't bring it back to Virginia, it doesn't mean that Virginians will pay a lower federal income tax; all that it means is that Tennessee will get it instead.
Once legalized theft begins, it pays for everybody to participate."There is a mind set that is, before your very eyes, becoming set in concrete: that the federal government exists to solve our problems, to bail us out at every level of public or even private life. That the government can be all things to all people. That no one alive today need feel any pain, make any sacrifice, as long as the federal government can borrow money from other countries to keep us comfortable until our children and grandchildren can somehow pay it back.
It really wasn't that long ago that another charismatic young president announced to the world that Americans would "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship ..." He implored us to "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."JFK's spirit is dead. America killed it.
IN ITS PLACE is a people with a perpetual hand out, a nation where we ask not what we can do for our country, but what our country can do for us. Where we worry not about where the money's coming from, but whether we're getting our share.Who can save us from this spiral into socialism and government dependence?And isn't it the very soul of America that's at stake?
The way we see it, there's only one entity that can save us. And that's us.Long term, we need to put a lock on the Treasury vault and throw away the key so none of us -- not Georgians, not Virginians, and certainly not members of Congress -- can get inside.That lock is called a constitutional amendment prohibiting the use of federal money for state and local projects or for anything that doesn't have to do with the basic functions of the federal government.
Maybe we need a double lock -- the second one being an amendment, or part of the above amendment, that requires Congress to balance the budget and to limit budgetary increases to something less than the growth in the gross domestic product.
Those are long-term solutions that will be insanely difficult, though surely worth it.
All we have to go on until then will be principle and discipline. And there's precious little of either these days in Washington, or at any level of government.For now, it appears there's no stopping this raid on the Treasury.Except, perhaps, one person, one city, one state at a time."
From the Friday, January 16, 2009 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Elvis Lives
With so much bad happening at home and abroad I was pleased to see and hear this youtube video today. It was recorded 40 years ago but the song was first done by Elvis in 1954. Enjoy!
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