The current house health care bill (h.r. 3200) which President Obama is promoting with full force is an all-out attack on our freedom. Click here to read the full bill (I hope you have a fast internet connection).
CNN Money ran an article outlining five freedoms we would lose under this plan (in reality we would lose a lot more, but these are big ones): Freedom to choose what’s in your plan, Freedom to be rewarded for healthy living, or pay your real costs, Freedom to choose high-deductible coverage, Freedom to keep your existing plan, and Freedom to choose your doctors.
As the bill stands right now, all of Utah’s congressmen oppose the bill. Read their statements here: Hatch, Bennett, Bishop, Matheson, Chaffetz.
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Tagged Rob Bishop, bob bennett, utah's representatives, Orrin Hatch, Jason Chaffetz, Jim Matheson, Obamacare, Health Care, Freedom, h.r. 3200, cnn money, bill
The 10th amendment says “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” (Italics added)
The Legislative branch was set up with two separate bodies. The House of Representatives was designed to represent the people and they were elected by the people. The Senate was to represent the states and they were elected by the legislature of each respective state. This way the Senate could defend the rights of the states and hold the federal government’s power in check.
The 17th amendment (ratified in 1913) stipulates the Senate to be voted in by the people instead of by the state legislatures. Since then we have seen the powers of the federal government grow tremendously, leaving the states weaker and weaker. The federal government has created huge bureaucracies to deal with issues they are not constitutionally authorized to and therefore should be reserved to the states. The Departments of Health & Human Services (1953), Energy (1977), Education (1979), and Housing & Urban Development (1965) were all created after the ratification of the 17th amendment and are all unconstitutional according to the 10th amendment. The combined annual budget of these 4 departments is $762 BILLION.
The reason I did this post is because I believe the vetting question at the top of the list for our candidates for Senate should be Are you committed to restoring states’ rights as guaranteed in the 10th amendment and what are you going to do to accomplish it?
The Republicans running against Senator Bennett for his seat are: Mark Shurtleff, Cherilyn Eagar, Tim Bridgewater, and James Russell Williams. The only Democrat I know of so far is Sam Granato.
Last October, both Senators Hatch & Bennett voted for the $700 Billion TARP (Toxic Assets Relief Program) bill. The plan was for the Treasury to buy up as many of the “toxic” mortgage backed securities as they could, which was supposed to relieve the banks from the uncertainty of the bad assets and make it possible for them to start lending. It would transfer the risk of these bad mortgages from the banks to the taxpayers.
Henry Paulson
Well, after the legislation passed, Secretary Paulson decided to scrap that whole idea and do something entirely different. He had the power to do that because the legislation gave him the ability to do almost anything he wanted to with the $700,000,000,000. Senators Bennett and Hatch and Congressman Matheson gave him that power by voting yes. Kudos to Congressman Bishop for voting no.
SENATE VOTE and HOUSE VOTE
From Deseret News:
95% of his requests are for past donors to his campaigns
By Lee Davidson
Published: Monday, April 13, 2009 8:48 p.m. MDT
Utah’s three U.S. House members have completely different philosophies about requesting “earmarks” that order federal agencies to fund specific projects they like.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, requested none for upcoming 2010 appropriations bills, and he campaigned against earmarks. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, requested relatively few (totaling $56 million), and only 3.5 percent were for campaign donors. But Rep. Rob Bishop requested $6.5 billion worth, and 95 percent are for past campaign donors.
He requests so much, in part, because he passes along virtually all requests made to him. “My concept is basically that if an earmark is asked of us, and it appears to be for a legitimate project, we pass it on — because appropriators have to look at it and make that call (on whether it is funded) anyway,” Bishop said.
Full Article
Senator Bennett and Representatives Bishop, Matheson, and Chaffetz all voted in favor of H.R. 2346, a bill that included “Cash for Clunkers.” Hatch did not vote. (Senate vote, House vote)
