ANOTHER CONSERVATIVE VIEW!
This article was written by a good friend as a Letter to the Editor. He gave me permission to post it. C Brewer
In the continuing debate on the de funding of ObamaCare, the catalyst for the current US Federal Government Shut Down, it boils down to the authority of the federal government to impose a tax upon it’s citizen’s in order to pay for government operations. If the people, via the House of Representatives, reject the tax that is proposed to pay for any given legislative act, then it can’t go forward.
In a recent news releases, several experts on the United States Constitution, reminded us that:
“The authority to deal with ObamaCare funding belongs to the House of Representatives, not the Senate; the way the House has been going about this is all wrong.”
“Everything hinged upon the authority to fund approved legislation, which was given exclusively to the House of Representatives, it is a power that they alone have.”
When the House passed legislation to de fund ObamaCare but voted to keep the government running through mid-December, the Senate, led by Senate Majority Leader, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) stated that they would not budge on ObamaCare and the legislation was defeated.
Our US Constitution says that:
“All bills for raising revenue shall originate the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments, as on other Bills.”
Therefore, to fund anything, in this case, the Affordable Care Act, first approval is needed from the House of Representatives. If that does not happen, taxpayer money can’t be spent.
The people, have chosen others to speak in their stead, for their interests, and sent them to the House of Representatives, where it has been concluded, after three years of closer scrutiny into the details of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), that:
– It does not protect the patient,
– is not affordable and
– is not even workable;
Hence, in the interests of the majority of the American people, it needs to be de funded.
When the United States Supreme Court ruled on ObamaCare, in 2012, Chief Justice Roberts’ stance on Obamacare coincided with the intent of the U.S. Constitution and the powers between the House and Senate.
According to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, ObamaCare cannot be implemented and is not considered the law of the land, contrary to Administration claims. Chief Justice Roberts actually ruled the mandate, relative to the Commerce Clause, is unconstitutional; therefore, because Congress doesn’t have the ability to mandate; it must rely on its power to tax, to fund ObamaCare.
His ruling meant Congress can’t compel or mandate American’s to purchase anything, ever. That notion is now officially and forever, unconstitutional.
Also struck down, as unconstitutional, was the ObamaCare idea, that the federal government can coerce the states into complying, by yanking their existing Medicaid funding. The Administration, through the ACA, basically said to the states….. “comply with ObamaCare or we will stop existing funding.” Chief Justice Roberts ruled that is a no-no.
When the House of Representatives attached ObamaCare to the legislation in funding the government, it made a big mistake in doing so. The funding of ObamaCare should have been separate; thereby, giving the Senate no power in denying the Houses’ request to de fund ObamaCare. The house leadership of John Boehner and Eric Cantor, erred badly on this legislation but they are too gutless to admit it.
The opposition to funding ObamaCare by the majority of the House of Representatives, would have been far more powerful if it had produced a “stand alone” bill, not attached to general funding. “Stand alone,” having no other parts, would have left the Senate no room to wiggle or compromise, once it went to them, nor would there be any need for a Joint Conference Committee to reconcile any differences between the bills proposed by the two houses. There would be nothing to reconcile, ObamaCare would merely have been de funded.
Still, the intent of the Founding Fathers was to give the people, through their House of Representatives, the power collectively to say no, to any proposed federal tax, which is exactly what is happening. The majority of our elected representatives are acting as they should, by reflecting the opposition to the ACA, of their constituents. They are not a cabal of rogues, unlawfully and immorally seeking to derail already approved legislation and closed issue.
If Obamacare is removed from the government budget, presented, and voted on as a separate bill, Obamacare can be de funded by the House. If that is the case, then the Senate and the President have no constitutional authority to override the House’s decision.
The Administration would have no legal or moral imperative to keep the government shut down.
Signed:
Ronald B. Jenkins, 9001 Antietam Drive, San Antonio, TX, 78239, 210-651-5003
A Conservative View 