In response to Wednesday’s column “Americans deserve health care as right,” I thought it was important that the readers hear both sides of the argument.
The framers of the U.S. Constitution wrote very precisely what the federal government may and may not do; we now know these responsibilities as the enumerated powers. While these powers do allow the federal government to regulate commerce, they do not allow the government to create it and force people into it. Many people in favor of the legislation point back to the founding of a national bank as a precedent for creating commerce, but the federal government did not force people to partake in the banking industry.
In the column, the writer talks about the act’s positive results, but fails to mention the far greater negatives. For example, the government already takes money from us to pay for Medicare programs — programs that will soon be bankrupt and are so mismanaged that by expanding their role in health care we are endangering our population.
Another thing that is not to be overlooked is the price tag on Obamacare. The Congressional Budget Office now has come out and says that Obamacare’s cost will be twice that of the initial estimate. This makes it $2 trillion over 10 years, something our fragile economy cannot afford.
The last and maybe the scariest part of this whole debate is the changing relationship between the private citizen and the government. Former President John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” Now that very president’s party is creating a state that is no longer built on personal responsibility — something our country cannot afford.
— Craig Erickson, second-year political science student