Unconstitutionality Trumps Grandma

Today I read a Tennessean article describing the efforts of Lamar Alexander (R-TN) as he works with party leadership to combat Obamacare. This article was sent to me by the Tennessee Republican Party lauding one of their party members. I do not share in this praise. Of course, I want the current Senate “healthcare reform” bill to fail, but I can offer no praise to the words or deeds of Sen. Alexander and those like him.

The Article Begins:

To understand Sen. Lamar Alexander's role in the ongoing debate in the Senate on health-care reform legislation, you have to go back to a floor speech Alexander made in July.

"We are talking about Medicare cuts and spending grandma's Medicare money on somebody else," Alexander said back then. His comments received no press coverage.

During the next six months, Alexander repeated some version of that phrase 13 more times during floor speeches.

By last week, he had refined the message: "If we are going to take money from grandma's Medicare, let's spend it on grandma."

The article then quotes Senator Bob Corker (R-TN):

"Our focus is to stay on the core message," Corker said. That message is that the health-care bill includes Medicare cuts, higher taxes and unfunded Medicaid mandates on the states.

My concern with the health care bill isn't that there is going to be a gobbling up of "grandma's Medicare." In fact, the Medicare program is repugnant to the Constitution and should be ended.

My concern is simple: the federal government lacks the authority to provide health insurance.

Do I believe that the proposed Obamacare plan will lead to higher costs, higher taxes, unfunded mandates, rationing, and countless other mistakes? Absolutely! But if none of these concerns were on the table, I would still oppose the plan because it is unconstitutional. (See my previous post.)

We need reform, but we don't need what is being proposed. Moreover, we need to make sure that if we oppose government run healthcare and health insurance, we need to really oppose government healthcare and insurance (i.e Medicare.)

As for me, I will not use fear tactics (though they be grounded in truth) as my rallying cry. Rather, I will stand upon the Constitution, I will stand upon morality, and I will stand against anything to the contrary.