The so-called healthcare reform legislation which passed the House of Representatives (with Steve Driehaus’s vote) and the Senate is a mess. Yes, there are many things relative to healthcare which should be reformed, but the two bills passed by Congress are flawed in so many respects that it’s hard to know where to begin. The legislation substantially raises taxes, dramatically increases government spending which is already far too high, puts additional job-killing burdens on small businesses, exponentially grows government and bureaucracy, and perhaps most importantly takes away more of our freedom, just to name a few reasons these bills are so bad.
But there’s another reason to oppose the Obama/Pelosi/Reid so-called healthcare reform legislation, and this one may actually have a chance of stopping this travesty from becoming law. It may well be unconstitutional. With that in mind, I sent the following letter today to Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray:
Dear Attorney General Cordray,
For six of the fourteen years I served in the United States Congress, I was the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution. During my tenure as Chairman, we dealt with and held hearings on various issues having constitutional implications, including the Reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, same sex marriage, banning Partial Birth Abortion, and the Victims Rights Constitutional Amendment to name but a few.
As I’m sure you know, both houses of the United States Congress have recently passed separate bills dealing with healthcare. This legislation clearly has constitutional implications.
Thirteen of your fellow state attorneys general (representing Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington state) intend to challenge said legislation as being constitutionally flawed. There are two principle legal arguments against the legislation.
First, the so-called Nebraska Compromise violates fundamental constitutional principles of non-discrimination by imposing billions of dollars of new Medicaid obligations on 49 states (including Ohio) while singling out one state, Nebraska, for special treatment. This was a pure political payoff to one Senator in order to purchase his vote.
Second, this legislation is arguably unconstitutional on the basis that it would establish a mandate that has never before been imposed on the American people – that they BUY something (healthcare insurance), or face a penalty. This requirement by the federal government seems to clearly violate the 10th Amendment which says that all powers not specifically granted to the Congress are reserved to the States or to the people. Even the Congress’s own Congressional Research Service opined that “it may be argued that the mandate (that an American citizen buy health insurance) goes beyond the bounds of the Commerce Clause” and is therefore unconstitutional.
In conclusion, I strongly urge that you, on behalf of the people of Ohio, join with your fellow state attorneys general in challenging the constitutionality of the healthcare legislation currently being considered by the United States Congress.
Sincerely yours,
Steve Chabot