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From the Heritage Foundation
Abstract: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents more than a federal takeover of health care; it is a direct threat to federalism itself. Never before has Congress exercised its power under Article I, Section 8 of the Federal Constitution to force American citizens to purchase a pri vate good or a service. Congress is also intruding deeply into the internal affairs of the states, commandeering their offic ers, specifying in minute detail how they are to arrange health insurance markets within their borders, and deter mining the products that will be sold to their citizens. If allowed to stand, this unprecedented concentration of polit ical power in Washington will reduce the states to mere instruments of federal health policy. State legislatures and sympathetic Members of Congress should consider (among other actions) crafting a constitutional amendment to guar antee the personal liberty of every citizen in the area of health care. Given the trajectory of federal policy, state offi cials should take the lead in the next phase of the national health care debate, reclaim their rightful authority, and change the facts on the ground for Congress and the White House.
Read more in The Wall Street Journal. |
