Just Chippin’ Away

Amendment X- The Rights of States under the Constitution.
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.

This is a very simple, straightforward  amendment to the Constitution, and the one that was most responsible for all the disparate states coming together, despite the many varied viewpoints and concerns the separate states had at that time. This amendment ensured that there would not be a heavy- handed, central government riding roughshod over the rights of these citizens in the various states. You see, back then, we worried about Kings, and unbridled power over the people.

The tenth amendment made it more difficult to make laws that were “constitutional”, in that they didn’t give unwarranted power to a central power, like say, a king, or a pseudo- messiah.

And yet here we are, on the cusp of giving Hussein The Incompetent a “mandate” A mandate? Not likely, when almost every governor in the fifty states have some problems with this power grab. I am sure that some of them truly do not grasp the big picture, but what they do see is enough to scare them for the future of their state.

 The nation’s governors, Democrats as well as Republicans, voiced deep concern on Sunday about the shape of the health care bill emerging from Congress, fearing that the federal government is about to hand them expensive new Medicaid obligations without providing the money to pay for them.

The role of the states in a restructured health care system dominated the summer meeting of the National Governors Association here this weekend — with bipartisan animosity voiced against the Obama administration’s plan during a closed-door luncheon on Saturday and in a private meeting on Sunday afternoon with the secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius.

“I think the governors would all agree that what we don’t want from the federal government is unfunded mandates,” said Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont, a Republican who is the group’s incoming chairman. “We can’t have the Congress impose requirements that we are forced to absorb beyond our capacity to do so.”

chron.com

Now notice, where the governors expressed concern because they might not get the money to pay for this boondoggle- when what they really should be worrying about is the blatant abuse of State’s Rights going on here. Instead they worry about getting their share. They are piggies at the trough, when they should be fighting for their State’s citizens rights against an oppressive government. Talk about twisted ideals.

The Constitution does nowhere state that everyone has a right to healthcare. Therefore the Federal government has no right to impose this on the states.

You can and should make the same argument about the Cap and Tax bill that Congress has passed. 

There is nothing in the Constitution about a right to “clean energy” or anything related, so the government has no legal seat at the table.  So they try to slide by a bill that skirts the Constitutional issue of State’s Rights. This, they feel, gives them the excuse to stick their heavy hand into the State’s business, when they are Constitutionally bound to stay out of said business.

The Governor’s Conference, where almost half of the Governors did not attend, was stroked by HHS head Sebilius, once a governor herself. She talked until she was blue in the face, but didn’t make much of an impression.

It was unclear whether the governors’ association would put together a statement expressing its dismay, at least partly because half of the governors did not attend. Many, including the group’s chairman, Gov. Edward G. Rendell, D-Pa., stayed home to deal with budget crises.

Some of the group’s most recognizable names — Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Sarah Palin of Alaska, Charlie Crist of Florida, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, David Paterson of New York, Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan and Mark Sanford of South Carolina — were not here.

But the sentiment among those who were could not have been more consistent, regardless of political party. The governors said in interviews and public sessions that the bills being drafted in Congress would not do enough to curb the growth in health spending. And they said they were convinced that a major expansion of Medicaid would leave them with heavy costs.

They are already anticipating large gaps in Medicaid financing after 2010, when stimulus money will no longer be available. And they point out that Medicaid already suffers from low payment rates to health care providers, discouraging some doctors and hospitals from accepting beneficiaries.

If Medicaid is expanded, states would almost surely have to increase payments to doctors to encourage more of them to participate.

Gov. Phil Bredesen, D-Tenn., said he feared Congress was about to bestow “the mother of all unfunded mandates.”

chron.com

Instead of “straw man” arguments, which Hussein is good at, this and other laws designed to “get around” the Constitution are in effect, “Straw man Laws”- designed not for their effectiveness, which is questionable, but for their ability to set precedent to slide by and avoid those sticky Constitutional questions about where the power should reside in a Republic, and whether the Constitution matters at all.

And this is how Socialists, or “progressives” or whatever you want to call them, begin. This is how you eat an elephant-

One bite at a time.

Blake
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