Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Real Issue Behind Health Care

The most talked-about topic today is the battle over health care reform going on in the US House of Representatives. It is absolutely clear that this country needs to do something about the way it handles health care. Insurance Premiums, prescription drugs, emergency care service, and routine doctor visit costs are all the highest they have ever been. There are people on every side of the argument that are very passionate about their views. This all sounds like a perfect mess for me to jump into!

Here is my sticking point, right off the bat: our country has an established process for dealing with social issues of this magnitude. The country is split very passionately right down the middle with very few people residing in the gray area. What is worse is that the two opposing sides are so passionate about their views that instead of having a real debate, they are demonizing the opposition and spreading false information. This doesn't do anyone any good because it only acts to hide what is actually important: The real issue.

The real issue is whether or not the Congress has the power to enact a health care reform plan regardless of how you feel about health care. I am not a monster who wishes death and inadequate health care onto those less fortunate than myself - I am a person that volunteers my time to help out my community. I am not rich to the point that I don't worry about money, so clearly I am also in favor of affordable care. My biggest concern right now is that I am watching the government stick its fingers into places it has no right being and I don't want it to get any worse.

The process I alluded to previously is detailed in the US Constitution. Some people will argue that the buck stops here with regard to the Health Care Reform Bill because Article 1 Section 8 of the US Constitution states exactly the Powers of Congress. It is quite clear that congress has no authority when it comes to telling the citizens of the United States what they must and must not do with regards to their health care. For an issue like this, there are constitutional amendments. The constitutional amendment (which most people forget about) is used when the people want to change or add something in the Constitution (such as congress' power over health care). It is really simple to add an amendment to the constitution - the process is outlined in Article 5 of the Constitution. The one catch is that 3/4 of the house of representatives AND the senate must ratify the amendment. 75% of the population must be on the same page in order for it to happen. If health care was such a no-brainer, then it would be easy to get enough votes for an amendment.

Before I go too far, I have heard a surprising number of people present the question of whether the constitution is even a relevant point of argument. Examples are thrown up such as warrant-less wire tapping and suspension of habeas corpus. If a government is willing to commit such acts which go against current constitutional amendments, what makes me think they will care about this issue? The US constitution is the guiding light for the country - the one document that can always be looked to when the country is divided. I say that the people have let this country stray too far from this path. Our government is straying from the constitution because the people don't care and let them get away with it. Why else is it that so many public figures are found guilty of corruption and still get re-elected into office? The function of government is to serve its people. The function of the people is to tell the government what they need. It is similar to the argument of who is to blame when a dog attacks a person: the owner for not controlling their dog, or the dog for directly committing the act? The constitution is absolutely relevant, and it is our job to make the government fall in line. Moving on.

The foundations of the current health care bill seem to be rooted in this one pesky line in the Constitution. One of the powers granted to congress is...

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

-Article 1 Section 8, US Constitution
That part in there about collecting taxes for the "...general welfare of the United States" has been widely interpreted to mean all sorts of things from the government's responsibility to help educate US citizens to providing for all of their health care needs. To really understand this statement, we need to first remember that the founding fathers wanted us to think of the document as it applied at the time of ratification and not construct an interpretation for today's world. What I mean by this is the constitution isn't a living document in the sense that it was made so long ago that the meanings have changed but rather today's words have changed around the meaning of the constitution. The meaning of the constitution is the same now as it was back when it was ratified - we have to come up with words that make sense to fit those meanings. James Madison (the 4th President and the principal author of the US Constitution) once said...
Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government.
James Madison
In order to discover the intended meaning of the constitution, we have to look back at the people who actually wrote it. Madison spoke very clearly about the words "general welfare" in this section of the constitution. During Madison's time in office, congress had passed a bill that would provide federal funding for state improvements such as rural roads, bridges, and canals arguing that it would be in the general welfare of the people to have these improvements in their state.
With respect to the two words 'general welfare,' I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.
James Madison
I'm sure there are some places to argue over interpretations in the Constitution, but this clearly isn't one of them. Based on the amount of controversy surrounding the current health reform bill, red flags should be going off in your head. Whatever your view is, I am certain you must be thinking that the other half of the country is insane for believing the opposite. Maybe we all need to take a breath, re-gain our bearings, and think logically. That is exactly what the constitution is for.

4 comments:

  1. Wait... you think the constitution needs to be taken in historical context?? Then I would be interested in your view on the 2nd Amendment, which most people think says " The people have the right to bare arms", however actually says "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." People here is not a person, it is the community. However, this is taken out of historical context all the time.

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  2. You bring up a valid point - I'll mark it down as a future topic to post about.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. The Bill of Rights refers to individual rights. I think Ayn Rand is pretty spot on in that there are no such things as "collective" rights. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_rights

    Also, the militia was meant to be "every able bodied man of military age" which, today, I believe is every person over the age of 18.

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