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Streetcar Line
Freedom From Medicare, and From Despotism
Dick Armey’s key case gets a boost.
(Page 2 of 2)
In one sense, this case features questions analogous to the issues involved in the Obamacare lawsuits that will be argued before the Supreme Court next week. May the national government coerce a citizen into accepting health coverage he does not even want? Are we citizens still free to choose our own goods and services? Or are we simply wards and automatons of the government?
Those who love freedom, and the Constitution, will insist on freedom, and will insist that the answer to the first and last questions above is a resounding “no.”
The full D.C. Court of Appeals ought to accept this case, reverse the panel’s ruling, put the bureaucratic agencies in their proper role subordinate to Congress, allow the plaintiffs to continue paying for their own chosen health-care coverage rather than the government’s — and, most importantly, restore individual liberty to its rightful place at the center of the American experiment.
About the Author
Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom. Follow him on Twitter @QuinHillyer.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (54) | Leave a comment
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PattyMor| 3.23.12 @ 7:32AM
Their attitude is let no one escape the plantation.
Von Mises Jr.| 3.23.12 @ 11:17AM
The socialist plantation will have a nice sounding name such as "Sustainable Development," or "Smart Growth." But it will be a plantation just the same. Check out Agenda21 YouTube 'for dummies" and you will probably conclude as I do that the elite Ruling Class has the "Antebellum" South model in mind from coast to coast for the bewildered herd.
The problem is that Republicans such as Chris Christie are of the same mind. Page 38 of his 41 page Draft plan for "Development and Redevelopment" creates a non-elected and unaccountable Board just like ObamaCare and Dodd Frank. "But I thought they were my friends" (quote "The Kinks" - "The MoneyGoRound").
Check out the NJ plan. Page 38 states "decisions may take place at levels above the state" (read DC and UN) -http://nj.gov/state/planning/publications/192-draft-final-ssp.pdf
Alan Brooks| 3.23.12 @ 12:53PM
"Freedom From Medicare, and From Despotism"
But not freedom from paying taxes for defense so you can squander trillions attempting to nation-build third world cesspools? you call Jack in Wi. intolerant yet he was way ahead of us in seeing incipient imperial overstretch- and now it has arrived and cannot be denied.
Riff Raff| 3.23.12 @ 1:26PM
Look stupid, the military is an AUTHORIZED power of Congress and all military expenditures are passed into Law by Congress at least every two years. Medicare is NOT a legal power of Congress, and certainly no administrative bureau can arrogate such power unto itself. Stay on subject.
Alan Brooks| 3.23.12 @ 5:56PM
"Look stupid, the military is an AUTHORIZED power of Congress and all military expenditures are passed into Law by Congress at least every two years. Medicare is NOT a legal power of Congress, and certainly no administrative bureau can arrogate such power unto itself. Stay on subject."
Yes, of course: but you are BAD STEWARDS.
That is in fact on-topic... you botched up and squandered trillions and now I consider you an enemy as much as Carter was way back when-- you are f*ck-ups.
Curtis Rasmussen| 3.23.12 @ 6:52PM
Current and future unfunded entitlements such as S.S., Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare are bankrupting this country, not the military, you arrogant child.
Be quiet, the adults are talking.
Alan Brooks| 3.23.12 @ 7:39PM
But you give out entitlements to buy support for your war efforts, you disingenuous pighead. And what do you mean "are bankrupting"?: the jig is up; we are being underwritten by outsiders-- and not merely the Chinese.
And all you can say is vote for this RINO, vote for that one, send your tax-deductible contributions to RINO-Romney the statist.
Curtis Rasmussen| 3.24.12 @ 10:58PM
I never said any of those things, nor am I implying any of your prattle, you straw dog dipshit.
markenoff| 3.26.12 @ 4:46AM
Actually, if you look it up, the military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan cost less, in monetary terms, than BO's shovel ready projects that were not quite shovel ready.
And I am still waiting for BO to tell the rest of the world, in this era of drastic defense department budget cuts that the US military will no longer respond to their natural disasters. Did you know that US Army aviators are risking their lives to airlift Montegrin citizens to safety after snowstorms in their countryh? Where is the Constitutional authority for this welfare handout to foreign citizens?
markenoff| 3.26.12 @ 4:46AM
Actually, if you look it up, the military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan cost less, in monetary terms, than BO's shovel ready projects that were not quite shovel ready.
And I am still waiting for BO to tell the rest of the world, in this era of drastic defense department budget cuts that the US military will no longer respond to their natural disasters. Did you know that US Army aviators are risking their lives to airlift Montegrin citizens to safety after snowstorms in their countryh? Where is the Constitutional authority for this welfare handout to foreign citizens?
Von Mises Jr.| 3.23.12 @ 4:09PM
Brooksie, you wouldn't know freedom if they let you off your dog collar. Lick your master's hand. Did you have an accident? bad dog!
Alan Brooks| 3.23.12 @ 5:59PM
You are pretty flip but considering how much debt we are in, the joke is on you, Mises.
i'm not sure PostAmerican wasn't wrong about Chinese receivership of America.
You bunglers.
Alan Brooks| 3.23.12 @ 6:00PM
I'm not sure PostAmerican wasn't wrong about Chinese receivership of America."
Wasn't right!
Von Mises Jr.| 3.23.12 @ 6:41PM
Did you go to Harvard? They apparently teach a strange brand of logic there.
Alan Brooks| 3.23.12 @ 7:42PM
Doesn't matter what you SAY, you will in fact vote in another turkey this year or in '16. Perhaps Romney will be elected this November- but what will he do for you? How will he substantially reduce govt. spending and debt? Answer that directly without sophomoric insults.
Von Mises Jr.| 3.23.12 @ 10:11PM
If he doesn't, your EBT card may be rejected.
Von Mises Jr.| 3.24.12 @ 6:58AM
"Freedom is Slavery"
"Ignorance is Strength"
Alan Brooks| 3.24.12 @ 6:11PM
From today's (3/24) NRO:
"... [Ryan] does not propose to balance the budget of the government of the United States until the year 2040. That would be 27 years after Congressman Ryan’s current term of office expires. Who knows what could throw a wrench in those numbers? Suppose Beijing decides to seize Taiwan. The U.S. is obligated to defend it militarily. But U.S. taxpayers would be funding both sides of the war — the home team, via the Pentagon budget, and the Chinese military, through the interest payments on the debt. (We’ll be bankrolling the entire People’s Liberation Army by some point this decade.) A Beijing–Taipei conflict would be, in budget terms, a U.S. civil war relocated to the Straits of Taiwan. Which is why plans for mid-century are of limited value. When the most notorious extreme callous budget-slasher of the age cannot foresee the government living within its means within the next three decades, you begin to appreciate why foreign observers doubt whether there’ll be a 2040, not for anything recognizable as 'the United States'...[emphasis added]"
Von Mises Jr.| 3.24.12 @ 10:07PM
"Ignorance is Strength"
I am with Rand Paul to cut spending much further. But growth can shorten even the Ryan plan. But from you flailing and screaming, this is way above your economic comprehension. Please don't bother me anymore, pissant.
Alan Brooks| 3.25.12 @ 6:59PM
"If he doesn't, your EBT card may be rejected."
I swear I do not know what an EBT card is, I always pay cash- unlike you.
Von Mises Jr.| 3.26.12 @ 7:28AM
Do you know who pays you? I guess you never heard of Soros either.
Controse| 3.25.12 @ 10:02PM
Adolescent changing of the subject when you know you can't win the argument. My loony left mother did this all the time. It is so easy to spot and it is so humorously weak witted.
Zak Klemmer | 3.24.12 @ 12:34AM
I'm planning my escape. ;)
The Bishop| 3.23.12 @ 7:44AM
As a retiree of America's least favorite bureaucracy, these cases point out the colossal danger of the entrenched federal bureaucracy, regardless of which party is in the White House. Operational manuals all too often assume the authority of law. Beware the Bureaucracy!
Alan Brooks| 3.23.12 @ 12:55PM
"As a retiree of America's least favorite bureaucracy"
Which means you receive funds and services disproportionate to your past contributions.
kwan| 3.23.12 @ 7:54AM
The Hall v. Sebelius decision and the Sackett v. EPA decision are reasons #1,312,451 and #1,312,452 why Obama must be thrown out of office on November 6th. Allowing Obama to place two more left-wing hacks like Sotomayor and Kagan on the Supreme Court could spell the end of freedom in the United States.
Brian Mc| 3.23.12 @ 8:06AM
I am unsure this country can afford to wait that long.
DRed| 3.23.12 @ 11:21AM
The two left-wing hacks appointed by Obama joined the unanimous opinion of the court in ruling against the EPA in the Sackett case.
kwan| 3.23.12 @ 11:49AM
DRed it's an election year remember. Obama doesn't want Sotomayor and Kagan to bring unwanted attention to the fact that his two unqualified selections were the only two morons to vote against this obvious overreach of agency authority by the communist criminals he has running these agencies (EPA & HHS). So they had to act like they really believe in the Constitution and freedom.
DRed| 3.23.12 @ 12:23PM
oh, right. When the facts don't agree with you, that's just part of the conspiracy. Carry on.
Quartermaster| 3.23.12 @ 6:54PM
When the facts are consistent with the theory, you don't throw the theory away. Kwan is exactly correct.
Gene Stagner| 3.23.12 @ 8:35AM
I am 67. My recollection is that I was "automatically" signed up for Medicare when I turned 65. There is no application process and even though I wasn't going decline, I do not remember ever being given an option to decline part A.
fmm| 3.23.12 @ 12:51PM
I went through this recently and there is an option. The caveat is that if you don't sign up right away, the monthly cost will be higher and will increase the longer you delay.
Purp| 3.23.12 @ 9:43AM
If you don't want to use Medicare - don't. Pay for your own doctors and hospitals and drugs. Sure, you'll have to pay for Medicare, but you don't have to use it.
Dick Nome| 3.23.12 @ 9:57AM
Not so when O-care takes over.
Purp| 3.23.12 @ 1:48PM
Not true - you have to pay for it - you still don't have to use it. Exercise your rights and refuse to use the insurance - no one will care. But you will pay for it.
Quartermaster| 3.23.12 @ 6:56PM
And if you go to the Doctor I bet you'll be forced to sue it, like or not. The Doctors will be forced onto the plantation just as they were in other countries that had such socialist nonsense.
Charles R. Williams| 3.24.12 @ 11:23AM
Purp, your comment gets to the practical side of this case and the motivations of HHS in pushing people into Medicare.
If you are in Medicare, the rules restrict what medical care you can get whether you are willing to pay for it or not. HHS wants to minimize the number of people who opt out to prevent people with their own money from buying the medical they want at an agreed upon price from a willing provider.
markenoff| 3.26.12 @ 4:50AM
And you will automatically get a full refund of the money that was forcibly extracted from your wages for decades?
Oldefarte| 3.23.12 @ 10:19AM
Once again, Roosevelt established SS as a forced retirement financial plan because of the stupidity of some individuals to plan for their own retirement, and therefore forced them to contribute to SS so that at 65 they would at least have some income stream coming to them in their retirement/non-working years. Johnson attached Medicare to SS along the same principles, to enable those 65+ to have some medical care benefits if they had not individually planned for same. When one has payroll deductions throughout their working lifetime for SS & Medicare, it ENTITLES them to benefit from same, but it does not forcably REQUIRE them to take these benefits. To reason otherwise is simply buying into government coersion/authoritarism wrongly. Correspondingly, SS could easily be fixed financially by forcing the government to repay/restore the $billions that it has historically BORROWED [ie stolen] from the SS trust fund, and by additionally legislating the elimination of salary caps upon SS taxiation. Medicare could be fixed financially by mostly Paul Ryan's plan outlines. It just requires congressional Democrats mostly to honestly admit the truth and to join Republicans in doing thus. As to Obama/Welfarecare, it should be [and will be if a Republican is elected INTELLIGENTLY by voters in November] repealed. Micelle Bachmann rightfully indicated today on Fox that the Democrats' intent of O/Wcare is to totally REPLACE Medicare [and therefore ration medicare to seniors while shifting same to the younger generation, all for vote-obtaining purposes by Democrats]!!!!!!!!!
JA| 3.23.12 @ 10:32AM
The only solution to the tyranny and despotism of the US govt is for individual states (hopefully, many of them) to begin formal secession from the union.
The US Govt. is no longer guided by our constitution and is using the courts and UNELECTED bureacrats to ram down their edicts by legal coercion.
The US govt is not going to change; it is a despotic, tyrannical govt. from which the people must separate.
It simply is too d^^n late; the govt. will not change, it no longer represents the people.
Time for the people to UNEMPLOY the govt NOW, and SECESSION is the only way it will happen.
Who Knows?| 3.23.12 @ 10:41AM
The gist of this article seems to be that you cannot decline Medicare without forfeiting your Social Security benefits.
WTF?
Not too long ago, when my income became too much to any longer qualify for Medicaid, my normal social security check had $90 per month deducted from it to pay for Medicare. Being a healthy 69 year old, I chose to refuse this “benefit”, and instead receive the $90.
I was able to do this and lost NO Social Security money.
However, I was told that if I did decide to receive Medicare in a year, it would be 10% more. And, every year, 10% more. So, if I do choose to use Medicare “insurance” when I’m 80, say---if I’m still alive---it’ll be $90 times 10% per year, compounded.
After 11 years, it’d go from $90 to $256 per month, starting in 2022. However, in the meantime, I’ll have “saved” $90 times 12 months times 11 years, or $12,960. Of course, in that same “meantime”, I won’t have the insurance coverage, and will have to pay for my own medical expenses out of pocket.
As they say—what a concept?!
I was revolutionized in 1967, while in Vietnam. After getting my MA in math, and being unable to avoid serving my country, I ended up in Da Nang for a while, and the Army had a small library of donated paperbacks. I found one entitled, “Pay Now, Die Later” (I think that was the title), an expose of the term life insurance scam, by an ex-salesman of said insurance.
Call me a free rider, but I’ve never paid for health insurance---I even struggled with the Army to decline SGLI, the life insurance they practically demanded you pay for. It was all of $2 per month, for $10,000 payoff. Now, in Finance School, we students had already been told that the only finance specialist who’d been killed in Vietnam had been philandering with the local “babes”. So, I was convinced I wasn’t going to die, and ergo saved $36 per year for three years.
By the way, I STILL don’t have a doctor. Aside from minor bills from a bike accident, and a couple of medical exams required to apply for jobs, the last doctor who jerked my body around took out the tonsils. CYA.
Let’s be brutally BODILY honest, here and now---
Moral hazard is regnant, when it comes to individuals taking care of their own body.
And, we’re paying for it, in FATSO spades!
Purp| 3.23.12 @ 1:13PM
Until you have a major medical emergency and THEN you cost all of us big bucks for your irresponsible behavior. And you were in Finance? OMG. No wonder the economy crashed due to financial shenanigans.
Calvin| 3.23.12 @ 3:01PM
Purp is a poster boy of irresponsible behavior.
Oldefarte| 3.23.12 @ 2:59PM
The only reason the'economy crashed' was due to the 'financial shenanigans' of the GD federal government and its Democrat administrators for decades of legislating draconian shackles upon banks/financials to force their making mortgage loans to economic indigents [aka welfare recipients] for which now the American taxpayers are having to repay same sadly!!!!!!
Who Knows?| 3.23.12 @ 9:40PM
My not paying for health insurance all these years is "financial shenanigans"?
I self-insured. Knowing from family history I had good genes, by eating better and better foods as I got older, and by being careful to not take risks that could lead to an accident, there were very slim chances this body would need a major medical procedure.
I'm afraid you don't get what moral hazard truly means, and that most people resemble my sister, by loading up with health insurance and "farming out" personal bodily responsibility. She ate the standard American diet, SAD, and I aimed for the health food diet. She's had two cancers, so far.
I'm STILL as healthy as I was at thirty.
Keeping it simple, for all the STUPID people out there---right diet for each individual would consist of eating the least amount of super foods, EVERY DAY. If this were the reality, how many doctors do you think we'd need?
The human body is hard-wired for vibrant health, right up to the very end, if people would CHOOSE to stick only the proven super foods into it!
Since most don't---myriad major medical "emergencies": or, as I see it, chosen destruction of the body.
Eat hearty, friends!
slhancock1948| 3.23.12 @ 10:47PM
We are also concerned with the outcome, as we also heard other SS beneficiaries told that they MUST sign up for Medicare, something we did not want to do. We have insurance. Not only that, but having recently moved back to the US after 26 years in service overseas, most doctors are NOT taking on new Medicare patients. That leaves us out in the cold!
Ralph Novy| 3.24.12 @ 10:49PM
Duh.
That's why "single payer" was the option to go for.
There really was nothing to lose -- although Democratic strategists thought so.
Even mandating that PRIVATE insurance companies get a whole shitload of new subscribers hasn't been enough for these Republican demagogues.
Might as well have let the howl about "single payer" as "individual mandate."
Screw Obama and his advisors on THAT one.
POST American| 3.23.12 @ 11:52PM
---Great piece!
NOW, again, back to this 'unpleasantness'
of capstone, Prince-stone EUGENIST
Dr Peter Singer and his 'on the go' promotion
of the reclassification of children up to
age 3 as ---DISPOSABLE, and the warm,
'X--speedy-ant' implementation thereof.
-----------------ANYTIME YOUR READY
somnolence| 3.24.12 @ 8:04PM
Save yourself a lot of grief and sign up for Part A only. If you ever are hospitalized nothing really says you have to maintain an outpatient status once you're out of there.
Oldefarte| 3.24.12 @ 9:19PM
http://content.bitsontherun.co.....O-dh3Zgtip
POST American| 3.24.12 @ 11:22PM
--KEY words to cut through these
Tavistock scripted breakdowns and 'posts':
----------------CAPSTONE EUGENICS-------------------
Kingofthenet| 3.25.12 @ 4:19PM
I didn't realize Conservatives LOVE 'FreeLoaders' so much, Oh I mean Free Riders. Perhaps I am wrong, what is the Conservative position on them, and How do you prevent them from getting something for nothing?