Today, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that the individual mandate portion of Obamacare is constitutional. Most people thought the mandate would fail the commerce clause test, and it did. However, the Court found the mandate is a tax, despite the administration declaring several times it is not one, and as such, they upheld it as constitutional.
Now that the smoke is beginning to clear, what does this mean for Americans? What are the effects, both short term and long term, on the average taxpayer? How will the country change from today forward?
If you break down the ruling, you will agree that SCOTUS has given the federal government free rein to go wherever they desire. Eventually, states will lose all power and the federal government will wipe out capitalism on all fronts according to the desires of the current ruler.
I use the term ruler instead of president, because that is where we are headed. President Obama has made several moves recently that show he is inching closer and closer to a state of monarchy. I know some of you will think this is silly, or extreme. But stop reacting and begin thinking. Follow the lines.
First, when has any government program not grown? Take any program – Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, unemployment, minimum wage, welfare, farm subsidies, education subsidies, earned income credit, or any other government program. They never come in at their original projections. The only thing that can be guaranteed to happen is growth. We need more money, more taxes, more power. Fifty years after LBJ declared his infamous “war on poverty”, and where are we? Trillions spent with absolutely no effect. The poverty rate is exactly the same as it was in the 1960’s. Of course it is, because it is a matter of function. The bottom 15 or 20% will always be considered in “poverty” because they are the bottom 15 or 20%. You can make ten million dollars per year, but if everyone else makes one hundred million, you are poor.
Second, when has any government program increased efficiency of any program? When has fraud, waste and abuse not happened by the truckful in any government program? The larger the program grows, the easier the fraud becomes.
So, you can rest assured that health care will continue to suck more and more from your wallet. Healthcare will suffer and get worse, and taxes for healthcare will continue to rise. It’s going to happen, just as it has happened 100% of the time before.
What about long term effects? What can Americans look forward to down the road? Sadly, that outlook is not very rosy.
The federal government now has been emboldened to take whatever they desire from you. One day, we will all work for the government. All stores will be government stores. All commerce will be government commerce. We will all be government employees, and the government will decide what we get in terms of pay or benefits. The decision will be based on who happens to be ruling at the time, of course. If we give the rulers the ability to control our lives, they will gladly do so, and the end result will not be to our advantage. It will be to the advantage of those in power, and their goal is more and more power. How will they achieve that power? By taking away our freedoms.
Will it happen all at once? Of course not. It’s the typical slippery slope situation. But it will happen.
Can the government demand you buy certain products now or face a tax? That is exactly what the individual mandate does, and it was ruled constitutional today. So, one day, the federal government decides we should all buy solar powered panels for our houses. If you don’t buy the panels, you pay a tax (penalty). If you don’t pay the tax, they take your property or freedom by force.
SCOTUS has already given the government the power to take your land for the sole reason that they can make more tax money from it by selling it to developers.
Everyone needs to eat healthy, so one day the government might decide that everyone will buy a pound of carrots every time they go to the grocery store. How is that any further far-fetched than you will buy our healthcare insurance or we take your property at gunpoint? You don’t like carrots? Tough, Big Brother knows best.
Chevrolet or Ford stock going down? Here comes Big Brother to mandate you buy American cars…or face a stiff tax penalty. Basketball ratings down? You will purchase the NBA All Access Pass from your cable provider or you will pay a huge tax that will go to purchase it for those less fortunate than you. After all, it’s only fair that they get to watch, too. For that matter, you will order the full cable package from Government Cablevision, or face that penalty tax.
Houston just passed a 5$ tax per person for anyone entering a strip club. This is on top of a 5$ per person tax passed by the state 4 years ago. Now, the federal government can get in on the action and decide everyone will pay a 5$ fee per week. You did not go into a strip club this week? Too bad, because then you pay the penalty tax of 5$. See you next week.
Are these extreme examples? Of course they are. They are also very likely to happen. The only way these things will not happen is for those in power to place restraints on themselves. Anyone who can find an instance of that happening should win a Pulitzer or, more likely, a Hugo award.
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