State Powers
The states are powerful enough to stand up to the federal government when it violates citizens’ rights. Learn how we can better leverage the power of states.
Health insurance is emerging as one of the top domestic issues as the 2008 presidential campaign heats up. Every major candidate, Democrat and Republican, has a plan to expand health coverage. Likewise, plans are afoot to bring universal health insurance to Arizona by voter initiative.
The most sweeping plans have one common element: coercion. Health insurance isn't "universal" if people are allowed to opt out or choose options not allowed by the government.
In the old "Star Trek" series, the USS Enterprise would prepare for enemy attacks by raising its deflector shields. Two bills just passed by the Arizona Legislature can provide a similar defense against coming assaults from the federal regulatory juggernaut.
On Constitution Day, it's all too easy to forget that the U.S. Constitution is not the only game in town. There are 50 others to be remembered. Despite our nation's limited government roots, nearly all state constitutions do a better job securing freedoms than the federal constitution.
Remember the Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act that was on the ballot last year and barely failed with 49.8 percent of the vote? The Legislature has already ensured it will be back on the ballot next year, where it's likely to pass. If it does, it could be joined by other states around the country to trigger a much-needed reset of the relationship between the states and federal government.
It is often said that if we don’t study history, we are condemned to repeat it. The Pilgrims of yesterday have a valuable lesson for Americans in today’s health care debate.
Many today do not know that the Pilgrims initially faced continuous famine of their own making. In his history of the colony, the Pilgrims’ long-time governor William Bradford described the crisis and the eventual solution.
The health care bills passed by the U.S. House and Senate are so complex, convoluted, and Ponzi-like, they could only have been conceived by Bernie Madoff. Along with the devil that lies in the bills’ details lurk serious constitutional issues.
Even before an array of national groups and taxpayers mounted a brave and seemingly unwinnable challenge to nationalized health insurance, an Arizona doctor began the fight to strengthen protection for health care freedom at the state level. Three years later, his idea has spread like wildfire.
Congressional Democrats are maneuvering to push through the latest version of President Barack Obama’s effort to take over the nation’s health care systems by this weekend.
While purporting to scale down the massive federal health-care proposal that a large majority of Americans oppose, the latest White House scheme preserves some of the worst features of the original.
Until recently, state and local government interaction with the federal government seemed to consist mostly of local and state officials asking D.C. for more money. As a result, many states, counties and cities have ended up on their backs, hog-tied by federal mandates. What James Madison called our “compound republic” cannot stand unless state and local governments recognize their obligation to join with the people in resisting federal overreach.
In an extraordinary move, an expert in President Obama’s administration has challenged the federal health care law’s mandate to arbitrarily reduce funding for Medicare under as “unsustainable,” “unworkable,” and likely to block some people from seeing their doctors.