Over the past weeks I’ve sent several emails to David Price regarding the health care bill. This past Friday I received a response.
Price’s email reply contains no fewer than four “untruths”. Three of these are straight forward examples of misinformation. The remaining untruth is far more serious. It is a blatant misrepresentation of the text and meaning of our Constitution.
The complete text of David Price’s email is appended below the horizontal rule. I have inserted paragraph numbers [#] to enable easy reference.
Let’s deal with the simple lies first:
[4] “For the first time, individuals will control their own health care – not insurance companies.”
This is an attempt at illusion. Under this new law, National government controls the terms and conditions of health care. Individuals who “choose” options that do not comply with government regulation will be subject to punitive “excise taxes” and / or incarceration.
[9] “Health insurance is much like automobile insurance.”
Not at all. Requirements for auto liability insurance were established to provide compensation for damage to other persons or property. Additional auto insurance coverage is optional.
[10] “…reconciliation was not used to enact…but to pass a more limited measure to correct several controversial Senate provisions.”
The process of “reconciliation” was designed to adjust financial discrepancies between similar versions of legislation passed in the House and Senate. The process was never intended to bypass established protocol in Congress.
Now lets examine the really BIG, really IMPORTANT lie. This is a lie of “omission”, intended to distort the meaning of the passage quoted. Notice the ellipsis (…) in the following statement from David Price’s email. Something (important) was removed:
[8] “Thus, Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power ‘to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution … [the] Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States’.”
The unaltered passage from our Constitution reads:
“To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”
So what was missing from David Prices’ quote? A clear reference to the limitation of Government authority to only those Powers enumerated earlier in Article I Section 8.
Our National government was never given the authority to enact this law.
The struggle between expansion vs limitation of the Powers of National government has been ongoing since the establishment of our Constitution. Where should we look for guidance about the original meaning of this passage? Let us consult the literary architect of our Independence, Thomas Jefferson:
NECESSARY AND PROPER: “…the Constitution allows only the means which are ‘necessary,’ not those which are merely ‘convenient’ for effecting the enumerated powers. If such a latitude of construction be allowed to this phrase as to give any non-enumerated power, it will go to every one, for there is not one which ingenuity may not torture into a convenience in some instance or other…”
ASSUMED POWERS: “Whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.” “Where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy.” – Kentucky Resolutions.
Jefferson anticipated the potential abuse of power through misrepresentation of several clauses in the Constitution. The “Necessary and Proper” clause had specific meaning to the framers. We should hold it just as dear.
Is there some wierd twisted irony that the paragraph number of Price’s BIG LIE matches the section number in the Constitution he seeks to pervert?
David Price distorted the meaning of our Constitution. My legislator lied to me.
John (Hans) Mentha
(References to passage from Article I Section 8 and Jefferson’s opinions are in this PDF)
March 26, 2010
Mr. John Mentha
xxxx yyyyyyyyyy
Raleigh, NC
Dear Mr. Mentha:
[1] Thank you for contacting me to convey your concerns about health insurance reform legislation. I appreciate the opportunity to explain my views on this complex issue.
[2] The skyrocketing cost of health care represents one of the greatest threats to families, small business owners, state and federal budgets, and the overall economy. Over the past ten years, Americans with employer-sponsored insurance benefits have seen their premiums more than double, and small businesses are being priced out of the market altogether. This trend is projected to continue, and it simply is not sustainable.
[3] The American people need a health care system that works for them – one that provides access to stable coverage, quality care, and affordable premiums and copayments. That’s what health insurance reform is all about. The reform legislation will correct the failures of the current system without compromising its many strengths – or adding to the deficit.
[4] Under the new law, the existing system of employer-provided coverage, which works so well for millions of Americans, will be maintained and improved. If you have insurance through your employer, you can keep it, but you will have the peace of mind of knowing that losing or changing jobs won’t mean losing access to affordable coverage. For the first time, individuals will control their own health care – not insurance companies. The new law prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage or care because of pre-existing conditions. It bars them from imposing annual or lifetime caps on benefits. And it requires them to cover children on their parents’ plan until age 26.
[5] For those who don’t have insurance at work, the new law will allow small business owners, the self-insured, and the uninsured to purchase coverage through state-based insurance exchanges at the same low group rates that big businesses have always negotiated for their employees. If even group rates are out of reach, the bill will provide tax credits to businesses and individuals to make coverage affordable.
[6] I want to address several specific concerns about reform that I have heard frequently over the course of the last few months: the potential impact on seniors, the constitutionality of both reform and the individual mandate, and the use of the so-called reconciliation process to make changes to the Senate version of the reform legislation.
[7] First, the reform law maintains the promise of Medicare for seniors and improves benefits. Seniors will see an end to the prescription drug “doughnut hole” and receive free preventive care and annual check-ups with their doctor. Seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) will still have access to these private plans as well. The only change is that the private companies will have to deliver on the cost-effectiveness commitment they made when Medicare Advantage was created. There will be no more taxpayer overpayments to subsidize these plans, which cost an average of 14% more than traditional fee-for-service Medicare.
[8] Secondly, some have claimed that the health insurance reform is unconstitutional because the Constitution does not expressly give Congress the authority to regulate health insurance or health care. But the absence of such authority cannot be viewed as a deliberate omission; the health insurance and health care systems did not exist at the time the Constitution was written. The Founding Fathers wrote a governing document that could withstand the test of time. Thus, Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power “to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution . . . [the] Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States.” The Supreme Court has interpreted these powers to include efforts to “insure domestic Tranquility . . . [and] promote the general Welfare,” which are referenced in the Preamble, and has found federal health care initiatives to be consistent with this authority. There is no constitutional authority assumed or granted in this bill that goes beyond that assumed by Social Security, Medicare, or scores of other federal statutes.
[9] There have also been charges that the bill’s requirement that individuals take responsibility for their health care by maintaining health insurance violates the principle of individual liberty. I believe it does just the opposite. Health insurance is much like automobile insurance. We need it because, when unforeseen things happen, it is unfair to force someone else to pick up the tab. Under the current health care system, hospitals are providing billions of dollars annually in care to the uninsured, and everyone who has insurance is paying higher premiums as a result. In my view, that constitutes a significant infringement on the individual liberty of the insured, which the bill would correct. Whether to obtain insurance will still be a matter of choice, but one choosing not to cover himself will pay an excise tax to cover the costs to the insured should he have to utilize the system.
[10] Finally, some have objected to the use of the reconciliation process to make changes in the Senate legislation. Reconciliation bills can only be used to enact changes that directly affect federal spending. They are subject to limits on debate (20 hours in the Senate) and must be passed by majority support (51 aye votes in the Senate). Reconciliation has been used a variety of times to alter not only the minutiae of budgetary provisions, but indeed significant policy decisions that have affected nearly every American, such as the creation of COBRA; the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); Medicare Advantage; and the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003. In the case of health care, reconciliation was not used to enact the bill itself (which passed with 60 votes in the Senate) but to pass a more limited measure to correct several controversial Senate provisions. A separate controversy concerned the possible use of a “deem and pass” rule in the House to pass the Senate bill and reconciliation corrections concurrently. In the end, this rule was not used and votes were taken on the two measures separately.
[11] If you would like more information about health care reform, please visit my website at http://price.house.gov/issues/health/health_insurance_reform.shtml. Again, thank you for contacting me, and please continue to keep in touch on issues before the Congress.
Sincerely,
DAVID PRICE
Member of Congress
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