For Once, the Poor Will Be Above the Law

Forcing every American to buy health insurance is a key component of all five bills currently being considered in Congress. The logic behind the individual mandate is rather simple: to eliminate the problem of health insurance companies denying applicants based on pre-existing conditions, ban them from doing so. And, to make sure that people do not wait until they are sick to purchase insurance, force everyone to do that now.

Aside from the obvious problem many Americans may have with banning private companies from behaving in their own self-interest while forcing people to purchase a product they do not want, the individual mandate actually goes one step further. It tells a significant share of the population that they, and only they, do not even have to comply with this law at all.

The Senate Finance bill states that anyone who does not purchase health insurance that meets the minimum health benefits requirements must pay a fine of $750 to $1,500. The implication is clear: failure to purchase adequate coverage is a crime that is punishable by an annual fee. It is the act of forgoing health insurance that (apparently) constitutes a danger to fellow citizens and is consequently worthy of reprimand.

And that is all well and good, for failure to do a lot of things – like stopping at a stop sign – also endangers others and likewise is punishable by a fine. The problem is that the Finance Committee’s legislation only applies to people making over 100% of the federal poverty line ($10,830 for an individual), as if anyone making less than that arbitrary figure does not pose the same potential threat to her fellow Americans. Also exempt are those earning between 100-400% of the federal poverty line but who cannot find insurance for less than a given percentage of their income (between 3-12%). None of these people need to abide by the same laws that everyone else is forced to follow. The result is socio-economic discrimination, pure and simple.

However, there is an important distinction regarding how the legislation has been drafted and how it could avoid this problem. Currently, if the cost of health coverage forces people to spend more than a pre-determined percentage of their income, they are granted a hardship waiver and exempt from acquiring coverage. In principle, this is a very different policy than providing subsidies to poorer families and then forcing them to use that money to purchase coverage just like everyone else. The laws that would go into effect if the Senate Finance Committee’s bill were put in place today would be the equivalent of a law stating that anyone earning below, say, $10,830 does not need to pay traffic tickets and therefore will not be held accountable for their reckless driving habits.

Some may argue that driving is optional and therefore cannot be used as a fair comparison, but the analogy can be simplified further. An individual has committed an action, or in this case failed to complete an action, which the government feels is worthy of punishment by fine, but only for those earning above an arbitrary threshold. Surely when looked at in this light, the individual mandate appears highly questionable at best and unconstitutional at worst.

This is not to say that providing hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to lower-income Americans and then enacting an individual mandate would be the solution, either. Rather, the example should highlight the hypocrisy inherent in what lawmakers are trying to force on hard-working and higher-earning Americans. We should instead be working to free the health care market of government regulations that drive up the cost of health insurance, thereby allowing responsible citizens to purchase the highest quality health coverage available to them with the least government assistance possible.

The Drug Addicts on The Hill

"I can stop anytime I want to."

These are the famous "last words" of drug addicts and alcoholics. They can't, of course. Not without help.

Once hooked drugs and alcohol are nearly impossible to shake. There is both a physical and a psychological dependency that keeps it's victims under its spell.

Such is the case, it seems with government spending.

Nobody in their right mind would ever consider spending the kinds of dollars our government is currently spending. "We're trying to stimulate the economy," they will argue. "The more we spend, the more you get," is another justification. The truth is that congress is hooked on spending and it can't stop.

Those in power think there will always be more money. They think the music will never stop. All they have to do is cry louder to make more money. They've come to imagine they've come into possession of a magic orange. Squeeze harder and the juice keeps flowing out.

Peggy Noonan puts it this way:

"When I see those in government, both locally and in Washington, spend and tax and come up each day with new ways to spend and tax - health care, cap and trade, etc. - I think: Why aren't they worried about the impact of what they're doing? Why do they think America is so strong that it can take endless abuse? I think I know part of the answer. It is that they've never seen things go dark ...

they don't feel anxious, because they never had anything to be anxious about. They grew up in an America surrounded by phrases - "strongest nation in the world," "indispensable nation," ... "highest standard of living" - and are not bright enough, or serious enough to imagine that they can damage that, hurt it, even fatally.

We are governed at all levels by America's luckiest children, sons and daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists. But they're not optimists. They're unimaginative. They don't have faith, they've just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are callous, and they don't mind it when people become disheartened. They don't even notice."

But in the end, they must notice. The one thing no generation of parents can protect their children from is reality. No inheritance can withstand the foolishness of their heirs. The harsh arithmetic on the frontier, the outflow of dollars and cents, the gradual and then sudden loss of credibility as people see they are dealing not with serious people, but with gilded fools cumulate their irresistible effects.

Planned Parenthood Pushes for More Abortions to Increase Profits

Nobody is pro-abortion.

At least that's what we're told. The liberals on the left, the pro-choice liberals, like to tell the rest of us that they don't want abortions. They just want people to have a choice.

The reality is that Planned Parenthood abortion clinics pressure their employees to generate more abortions to increase profits for the clinic. The former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas revealed this shocking truth after she left her position.

Abby Johnson used to escort women from their cars to the clinic in Bryan, Texas. She worked at the clinic for eight years, but knew it was time to leave when she saw a child ripped apart as it was vacuumed out of a patient's uterus in September. Johnson said that she was "extremely pro-choice" until she watched the procedure on an ultrasound monitor. However, she became disillusioned with her job after her bosses pressured her for months to increase profits by encouraging more and more abortions, which cost patients between $500 and $700 each.

"Every meeting we had was, 'We don't have enough money, we don't have enough money - we've got to keep these abortions coming.' It's a very lucrative business and that's why they want to increase numbers."

Noor Faleh Almaleki Dies

Authorities say a 20-year-old woman from Iraq whose father allegedly hit her with his car in a Phoenix suburb died from her injuries.

Noor Faleh Almaleki had been in a local hospital since Oct. 20. Peoria police spokesman Mike Tellef says she died Monday.

Family members say Faleh Hassan Almaleki believed his daughter had become too Westernized and was not living according to his traditional Iraqi values.

Faleh Almaleki fled after the attack but was arrested Thursday when he arrived at Atlanta's airport, where he was sent from the United Kingdom after authorities denied him entrance.

He was returned to Arizona last weekend. Tellef says the charges will be upgraded in light of his daughter's death.

Thank Allah that Islam is a religion of peace.

Obama's Reputation On the Line Tomorrow

Yes, it's 2009, an odd-year, but there are a handful of elections happening tomorrow, and they'll be watched very closely, since they're the first ones since Obama's election last year.

The big ones: The Virgina governorship, the New Jersey governorship, and the NY-23 Congressional district. In New Jersey, it looks like voters might be ready to throw out ex-Goldmanite Jon Corzine, due to anger about higher taxes and the weak economy. But a third-party run from Chris Daggett may keep him in office.

The one that would really be a blow to Democrats is in Virginia, where it looks as though Republican Bob McDonnell will beat Democrat Creigh Deeds. Why a big deal? Because Virginia has been trending blue, and thus would mark a decisive reversal of that trend.

Suddenly it seems like Republicans have some life and voter enthusiasm. Remember just a few months ago when there were questions about whether it would ever be a serious party again?

Of course, this has very little to do with the Republican party and more to do with independent and conservative voters being very unhappy with the direction Obama is taking us. Voters aren't jumping onto the Republican bandwagon ... not just yet, anyway. They are, however, willing to vote republican to slow down the march toward socialism.

The Republicans still have a long way to go before they can capture the imaginations of voters with their own ideas. A good start would be a strong move to the right, particularly on fiscal issues. Americans are concerned about the National Debt and about the economy.

The current recession is still Bush's fault, all inherited from the "previous administration" according to the White House. That theme was echoed again Friday in a speech by V.P. Joe Biden, defending the one million, no wait, the 30,000, no wait, the 20,000 jobs created by the Stimulus package. As the recession drags on (and it is dragging on, in spite of some good news on Wall Street), Americans are beginning to see the disastrous toll that the administration's policies are having on businesses, particularly small businesses.

While Obama is willing to throw money at the economy, he is unwilling to establish pro-business policies, and until that happens, it is unlikely we'll see a strong rebound like we have following past recessions.

This may be an off year, for elections, but unless things change, and unless they change a lot, expect huge gains by Republicans in 2010.

Scozzefava Suspends Campaign, Supports Democrat

Dede Scozzafava, the Republican and Independence Parties' candidate for the 23rd Congressional District of New York state who suspended her campaign Saturday, announced moments ago she was throwing her support behind Democrat candidate Bill Owens rather than the Conservative Party's Doug Hoffman.

This should make liberal media members ecstatic for the next 48 hours.

Quote of the Day

“We're not at war with anyone. We're at war only with people who represent mistruths...”

-- David Axelrod, November 1, 2009