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As has been reported in a large number of places already, the House of Representatives passed a Health Care Reform bill Saturday night. It squeaked through after having provisions for it covering abortions were removed from the bill. There are a couple of things here that continue to show me that Speaker Pelosi is interested in nothing other than her own personal power.

First and foremost, there is no Constitutional authority for Congress to pass anything of this nature. Interstate Commerce, you say? If they were looking at further regulating the health insurance/care industry and were looking at the rules that chain companies to the overhead increasing policies requiring them to have different policies for each state in which they operate, I would completely agree that was within their authority. Wholesale requiring people to have insurance (and threatening them with several thousand dollar finds and/or multi-year prison terms if they don’t comply)? Not in the slightest bit within the Constitution scope of their authority. This, however, matters not a whit to a majority of the members of the House of Representatives (and, arguably, doesn’t matter a lick to most of the minority who voted against the bill).

The other big item of hypocrisy and frustration is Pelosi ignoring the promises of transparency and openness preached when President Obama took office. There had been a promise that any legislation would be posted on the Internet for 72 hours before a vote to allow constituents to read it. As with most other major legislation this year, this did not happen. At least in this case, unlike the stimulus bill, there was an actual written bill before the vote. Regardless, the final version was not available for public consumption for 72 hours before the vote.

At the moment, my only thought of saving grace are the fact that this bill is pretty much DOA when it hits the Senate. As well, there is much less wiggle room in the Senate to be able to get a bill passed to forward on to the President’s desk for a signature. Given this, I have hope the Senate will block this horrible version of healthcare reform from every making its way into law.

stranger Government Outrage, News

I’ve been quiet of late because, honestly, I’m more than a little disgusted with the state of things and just can’t get my thoughts in a coherent format. Given recent items from Harry Reid, however, I do have a few things to say.

First and foremost, Congress is massively overstepping its bounds with healthcare reform. There is nothing in the Constitution that allows them to do this, but if you ask your average member of Congress, they don’t care. This is one of the grosser violations of the Tenth Amendment, but it’s “for the people” so it’s okay, right?

Like I said, disgusted.

Now let’s move on to Harry Reid’s commentary yesterday that there will be an ‘opt out’ provision for States on the Public Option (or the ‘Competitive’ option as Pelosi apparently trying to rebrand it). On the one hand, you could say this is a win for State sovereignty. Call me cynical, but I don’t see it that way. I see it as nothing more than a political trick. If you put in the ‘opt out’ provision and a State chooses to take it, Congress can then say to everyone in that state, ‘Hey, it’s not our fault! We put it in there, but your State decided they didn’t want it, so it’s all their fault!’

Given that little tidbit, I honestly do not expect any State to exercise the Opt Out option. It’s in there simply as a bone to toss to the Blue Dog Democrats in an attempt to get them on board while still placating the far Left in the Democratic Party that’s screaming they’ll revolt if there isn’t a Public Option included in the Healthcare bill.

Rather than this massive expansion of cost, debt, and power from the Federal Government, I would much rather see them do things that are legitimately within their authority. Let’s start with Tort Reform (loser pays system, perhaps?) and removing barriers to selling insurance across state lines (you know, actually using the Interstate Commerce clause in a legitimate fashion).

At the end of the day, this is simply another unconstitutional expansion of Federal Authority, but the majority of people don’t care because they buy into whatever excuse is needed to keep them from actually thinking.

stranger Government Outrage, News

It should come as no shock to anyone that I disagreed with the legislative agenda of Senator Edward Kennedy in many cases. Today, however, none of that matter. Regardless of how I felt about his actions as a Senator, the fact remains he had a profound impact during his time in the Senate.

There are two stories I’ve heard about Edward Kennedy, however, that remind me that at the end of the day, he was a person like the rest of us. The first of these is an anecdote given by Jamie Dupree, WSB’s Washington Correspondent. He has noted that one of his best memories of Kennedy is seeing him often at the end of the day go out to the park across the street from the Senate office building with his dog and spend time just throwing the ball with his dog.

The other involves a friend of mine and my dad’s who works in Martha’s Vineyard. He and his family attend the same church that Edward Kennedy did, and his stepson would sell papers outside of the Church on Sundays in order to make money. Every Sunday, Senator Kennedy would stop, buy a paper, and encourage the boy to keep up the good work. A few years later, Senator Kennedy offered to put forward the boy’s name as a candidate for a military academy as a reward for his willingness to work.

Both of these situations illustrate that while I did not agree with the man’s political policies in many cases or some of his past actions, he was still a person like the rest of us and generally a good person.

Rest in peace, Senator Kennedy. Your passing closes the final door on Camelot.

stranger News, Personal Thought