An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Crime and Punishment
Criminalizing Health-Care Freedom
Heritage senior fellows Brian Walsh and Hans von Spakovsky have a new article out at NRO on the jail time provisions that exist in both the House and Senate bills. Read the whole thing, but here are some key graphs:
By transforming a refusal or failure to comply with a government mandate into a federal tax violation, the “progressives” are using the brute force of criminal law to engage in social engineering. This represents an oppressive, absolutist view of government power.
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The idea of imprisoning or fining Americans who don’t knuckle under to an unprecedented government mandate to purchase a particular insurance product should outrage anyone who believes in the exceptional promises and opportunities afforded by our basic American freedoms. The idea isn’t progressive but highly regressive, the equivalent of reinstituting debtors’ prisons, a punishment Americans eliminated 160 years ago.
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Many of the Americans who will surely ignore the government health-insurance mandate may not wind up in prison. But if noncompliance becomes too widespread, any one of us could become the example the feds prosecute to make sure the iron hand of the new Washington is clearly visible to other potential “criminals.”
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Unless this paternalistic juggernaut is stopped, Americans will lose some of their most fundamental freedoms, and the power of the federal government to impose novel requirements in every facet of our personal lives will have become virtually unlimited.
I guess I’m going to be one of those who ends up in jail, cuz I sure can’t pay the fine, and I have NO intention of being under the thumb of the likes of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. I suppose if I end up in prison, I’ll still be under their thumb, but I don’t think I’m going to be alone. 
MediaMatters does a nice job of explaining this. http://bit.ly/153O6T
Hon…I’ll be right there with you. There is no way in hell that I will go along with this.
But before the death care oops I mean health care of course, comes along there will be another exercise in how much we all love our god given freedoms:
And the census is the first on my radar….I have been practicing saying “get off my lawn” for months now…
Jim, have you read any of either the bills? You might be surprised to know that I have. As far as LeftiaMatters? Gimme a break.
cg, I don’t think they’ll even know what hit ‘em. LMAO
I have, and I haven’t run across any mention of prison time. If you could point me to those sections it would be greatly appreciated.
Jim, did you bother to read the letters linked? One named House, the other named Senate.
I did, and unless I’m mistaken, they focus on existing penalties for tax cheats which might be used for insurance scofflaws. But the House version specifically bars jail time and the issue hasn’t been finalized in the Senate bill.
There is certainly room for discussion here, but to dredge out the scare tactics yet again when they are not merited is just so predictable.
I have listened to both sides of the argument on this so called “health care reform”. I have read much on the subject. You call them ‘scare tactics’. I call it the ugly reality of socialism.
The “ugly” reality of socialism as it relates to health care is that industrialized nations with more socialistic health programs than the U.S.* have better health outcomes.
*Yes, our current health care system is socialized to an extent — if you go to the ER you get treated and the cost passed on to tax payers.
Actually, I don’t go to the ER unless it’s an absolutely emergency, and if I do, I pay the bill. I don’t ask anyone to pay it for me, including you.
Better health outcomes? Well, I guess that all depends on what you consider better. Lower survival rates of breast cancer? Or prostrate cancer?
If the government would get out of the health care business, open up the states for competition, address TORT reform, many of the issues being touted as the reason for this nonsense, could be resolved. However, that would take the control away from the government, and actually give it back to the people.
I respect your attitude regarding your personal health care. I’m the same way. My family just came off a 4 month stint of insurancelessness (new word?), and we footed our bills ourselves. We wouldn’t fit into that 48,000 figure that’s often floated about though, as in order to fit that qualification, you had to have been without insurance for an entire year. I think the number of uninsured at any given time is actually much higher than that.
Regarding outcomes, you always see those specific examples — prostate and breast cancer — when trying to bolster U.S. health standings. That’s from a study (http://bit.ly/772RH8) which looks at only 31 countries, only four cancers (the aforementioned two as well as colon and rectal cancer) , and only 16 states within the U.S. When you cherry pick, of course you can find find supporting evidence. Those examples are few and far between, however, and the vast majority of measurable outcomes, and all broad indicators, show the U.S. lagging other industrialized nations.
I’m with you on tort reform; I never understood why that’s a left-right issue, other than trial lawyers generally lean Dem. I also had always wondered why cross-state insurance was a bad thing too. Only recently have I learned that insurance regulation varies remarkably by state, and if state borders were ignored for purposes of insurance, companies would have incentive to set up shop in states where regulation is lowest, like Texas. Interestingly, the study mentioned above also notes that cancer outcomes vary considerably by state. I wonder if there is any connection there? Haven’t looked at it closely enough to have formed a solid opinion on this point yet.
Well, it’s either 47 million, or 30 million. They can’t make up their minds, and no doubt, illegals are added in there somewhere.
The problem with many of the countries who have nationalized health care, fewer freedoms. Government caused the problem, and now they have the arrogance to think they can solve the problem? This is the same bunch who have screwed up every other government run program? Do you really think it’s a good idea?