Congress Must Fix Healthcare at its Pace, not Trump's

Congress Must Fix Healthcare at its Pace, not Trump’s

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

March 27, 2017

For once, Democrat Party vindictiveness helped the American people. They wouldn’t vote their own stay of execution if granted by President Donald Trump. Fortunately, they, with the Freedom Caucus of the Republican Party effectively quashed Trump’s milquetoast healthcare legislation.

President Trump is wrong with his all or nothing tactics on healthcare. Trump said with Congressional failure to vote on his legislation, then we the people are stuck with Obamacare and he will move to his next issue.

The Executive Branch does not write legislation, nor does it set the schedule of Congress. Congress is not answerable to the Executive Branch – something Trump seems to forget when attempting to run the government – of three equal, not subservient branches. The government is not his corporation.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) proved herself to be hypocritical once again when making a statement that actually made sense. “The American people and the members [of Congress] have a right to know the full impact of this legislation before any vote in committee or by the whole House.”

Agreed.

Yet on March 9, 2010, the hypocrite from California said, of Obamacare, “But we have to pass the bill to find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”

The Freedom Caucus must remain strong against this Obamacare-lite pathetic measure. Controlling both houses of Congress and the White House, the GOP must produce the appropriate kind of healthcare legislation opponents of Obamacare have demanded for the past seven years.

Until that time, Pelosi is relishing what she considers not just a victory for the Democrats, but “a victory for all Americans.” Apparently, forced healthcare upon the citizenry, costing more than most can afford, and in some cases in states where there are no actual choices, is considered a victory for the American people by the obviously tone deaf Pelosi. Tone deaf because the American people demand, and have a right to, better than Obamacare and the first attempt at its replacement.

Start anew by not mandating coverage. Keep pre-existing conditions covered. Permit insurance policies to be both procurable across state lines, and portable – thus encouraging lower costs via competition. Increase transparency, and prevent government from injecting itself into the people’s healthcare as much as possible.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Obama Lied - It's Just That Simple

“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor – period.” – Barack Obama

“You f*cked up – you trusted us.” – Otter to Flounder (Animal House, 1978)

Obama Lied – It’s Just That Simple

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
November 5, 2013

“If you like your private health care plan, you can keep it. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Period.” – Barack Obama; said loud and clear in dozens of speeches, pre and post-Election Day 2012

"No one will take it away – period.” – Obama, again

Liar, liar, pantalones en fuego!

Apparently "period," is never the end with Obama, as now he has introduced a caveat. “If you like your policy, you can keep it – if it hasn’t changed since the law passed – period,” is the new Obama mantra.

Obama can spin this like a dreidl at Chanukah all day long, but the fact is, he outright lied to the American people continuously. Let’s not sugarcoat it. He didn’t misspeak, he wasn’t confused, as left of center media outlets would claim in Obama’s feeble defense. He simply lied – period.

We the people don’t like your health plan, Mr. Obama – you keep it. In fact, if you think it’s so great why weren’t you the first to log on to your failed website and sign up for your proposed plan?

More like a scheme, not a plan, when the younger and healthier are being sacked with greater and greater costs to make up for the lower costs paid by older, less healthy folks. A failed website is the least of the problem, but it is indicative of the inability of the government to deliver a healthcare system remotely comparable to what the majority of the American people are receiving in their current plans.

But as the website is under current indictment, let’s kick it around before getting to the impoverished plan and Obama’s potential impeachment. A government that can’t successfully launch a website after a three year head start is demanding that we the people surrender our health, and by extension, our lives, to them.

Our health is not just the physical, but the mental, and if the Obama administration believes any clear thinking American is going to willingly, blithely forfeit its health care options to an incompetent government racing toward socialism, then they are simply nuts.

To listen to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius bloviate and tap dance around questions asked by the committee, dripping with arrogance is yet another sterling example of government’s overreaching into the lives of the American people. She claimed the system never crashed – define crash however you like, but several times during her testimony committee members showed how it was inoperable at that moment.

Both Obama and Sebelius have encouraged frustrated Americans unable to access the website to apply via telephone or paper formats, yet all roads still lead back to the not yet ready for prime time website.

A line of questioning regarding CGI, the Canadian company responsible for the website, unearthed the disconcerting fact that the same company will be tagged with fixing the problems for additional pay. Why should we the people pay this company for not doing the job correctly in the first place? The amount contracted for should be all they get and they should stay on the job until they complete it correctly.  And why couldn’t the Obama administration hire an American firm to do this job? Obama has outsourced jobs and is leading by example once again.

And further demonstrative of the paucity of leadership in this administration came when Sebelius used the childish response of “whatever” when she became flustered over a question of who is really in charge – Sebelius herself, or Obama – of this debacle.

“I’m as frustrated as anyone,” Sebelius said. Yeah, not so much, Madam Secretary – you are not using this system to sign up for Obamacare. The frustration exhibited by the American people comes in the form of those not able to sign up, which is few people in the first place who actually want to sign up, to those who are being unceremoniously dumped by their current insurers, which is numbering in the millions. As of November 4, 3.5 million Americans have already been dropped from their policies with no end in sight.

Obamacare will continue to have a deleterious effect on the economy as businesses large and small keep trimming staff and schedules turning America’s workforce into a part-time labor force. Additionally, the economy will suffer as people are now forced to spend more money for a lesser-quality insurance policy, as has been the testimony from far too many already. People from all walks of life and both sides of the aisle have testified that policy rates are increasing by hundreds of dollars per month and co-pays are doubling all with the promise of fewer options and higher deductibles.

Those who have received “Dear John/Jane” letters from their current insurance carriers are stunned, yet Obama and his cronies knew these letters were forthcoming as far back as 2010, as a recent “smoking gun” has been produced from inside the Obama White House detailing how millions of Americans would be cancelled. Obama has said to blame the insurers, yet why would they want to see their rolls diminished at a cost of millions of dollars?

That Obama knew, and as far back as 2010 – clearly in advance of the 2012 presidential election, smacks of a case of defrauding the American people. Such a fraud perpetrated against we the people should certainly be grounds for impeachment.

To be forced to purchase a product people may or may not want is tyrannical. For an administration so ardently supportive of a woman’s right to choose (i.e.: murder her unborn child), they’re rather restrictive about how we the people procure our health care.

Obama cavalierly and dispassionately expects people to just switch carriers or more importantly doctors as if swapping one brand of shampoo for another. Selecting a doctor is not an easy task and a very personal one at that. And after a many year relationship with a doctor to find it suddenly over can be unnerving and disconcerting, especially for older citizens. Do we the people really want government dictating how and where we procure our healthcare and doctors? Or from government’s chosen list?

It is not up to government to dictate to we the people. It is up to we the people to dictate to the government – a little thing called “consent of the governed,” as found in the Declaration of Independence. The time is now for we the people to stop offering tacit consent, and stand up to be heard.

The solution is not a government-controlled, mediocre health care plan with fewer choices, but an open market system where health insurers and providers compete across state lines for our business.

Less government, not more, is the answer. That also includes not providing “free” health care for illegal aliens. “Free,” of course, is never free, when once again, we the people are on the hook for the bills of the indigents. That spigot must be shut off and order restored.

We the people are speaking – while we still are able.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Obamacare Cruz-ing for a Bruising

Obamacare Cruz-ing for a Bruising
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
August 7, 2013

While I rarely disagree with conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, I will tread carefully while I respectfully suggest he has it backward in his August 2 editorial “GOP’s suicide mission” – at least in his section about Obamacare.

Krauthammer suggests that conservative stalwart Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) “are threatening to shut down the government on October 1 if the stopgap funding bill contains money for Obamacare.”

Cruz and Lee can threaten all they wish, but as Krauthammer correctly points out, the Democrats control the Senate, not Cruz and Lee’s minority Republican Party, and thus the GOP is likely to go down to defeat in appropriately attempting to defund this albatross around the necks of all Americans who work for a living or meet a payroll keeping said workers employed.

Even Democratic Senator Max Baucus (MT) has called Obamacare, a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act, a “train wreck.”

Where Krauthammer and I part company is in my not thinking a GOP effort to defund Obamacare will be a suicide mission. With the shrinking popularity of the imposition of socialized medicine, fewer options, higher prices and premiums, and still no cross country competition, more Americans will appreciate the efforts of the GOP standing up for the folks who sent them to Washington in the first place.

The defunding bill will surely pass the GOP-controlled House, and even if it manages to pass in the Senate, the power to keep the government running like the incompetent machine it is, is in the hands of Obama himself. The issue is whether Obama wants a government shutdown on his watch that he can prevent by admitting defeat on his precious socialized medicine roadshow whose level of popularity continues to wane, or retain his arrogance, veto the bill, and blame the Republicans for not giving him what he wants simply because he lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Cruz, who introduced a bill in the Senate to defund Obamacare, said he will never support even one dime of funding for what is both Obama’s signature piece of legislation and the potential downfall of the American economy.

"The Administration's recent announcement to delay the onerous and unpopular employer mandate until after the 2014 election, coupled with its announcement to delay income and health status eligibility requirements in favor of an honor system for the most expensive entitlement for our generation, confirms what has been obvious from the start – this law is a colossal mistake," Cruz said in a press release.

Cruz must be doing something right as he caught the attention of Obama lapdog Chris Matthews, also a supposed “newsman” for MSNBC. Matthews, while shilling for Obama, said that Cruz’s legislation to defund Obamacare is “an act of terrorism.” Terrorism? That’s extreme even for the ratings starved, virtually irrelevant Matthews.

Is it an act of terrorism to follow the rule of law as established by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution? Is it an act of terrorism to put the responsibility of an individual’s choice pertaining to healthcare in the hands of, um, the individual? Is it an act of terrorism to prevent government from forcing its citizenry to purchase a product it may or may not want? Matthews is an absolute imbecile for making such an outlandish statement, which is not only an embarrassment to him, but offensive to victims of true terrorism. Matthews owes Cruz and terror victims an apology.

Obama has forced businesses to reduce its workforce to ensure it does not cross the 50 employee threshold making it responsible for providing Obamacare to its employees. Additionally, workers are already feeling the pre-enacted sting of Obamacare as hours are being sliced down below a 40 and even below a 36-hour work week, thus turning the United States into a part time economy.

Congress must have finally taken Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) advice to read the bill and discovered what was in it was enough to grant themselves a waiver from Obamacare while inflicting it upon the rest of the American rank and file.

Even three of the largest unions in the country, spearheaded by the Teamsters, some of Obama’s most loyal supporters, object to enactment of Obamacare. In an open letter to Democratic Congressional leadership, the unions said enactment of Obamacare will “destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”

At least Senator Cruz is keeping his word in attempting to defund the dangerous Obamacare. A government shutdown is avoidable if Obama wakes up from his stupor and socialist haze in time to realize the opposition is mounting against his potentially economy-crippling legislation that will ultimately make the American people even more dependent upon Washington, something hard working Americans are loathe to experience.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Is Chief Justice Roberts Souter Redux?

“We are a nation that has a government—not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our Government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.” – President Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, Tuesday, January 20, 1981

Is Chief Justice Roberts Souter Redux?

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
June 30, 2012

In an 11^th hour twist seen by most so-called experts and pundits as unexpected, the Affordable Health Care Act, a.k.a. Obama Care, has been upheld by the United States Supreme Court. The individual mandate has been declared constitutional in a five to four decision authored by none other than Chief Justice John Roberts.

Roberts, a heretofore reliable conservative appointed by former President George W. Bush, wrote in his majority opinion, that while the individual mandate did not stand up to the constitutional smell test under either the Commerce Clause or the necessary and Proper Clause, it did however, pass muster as a tax.

Slice and dice it six ways from Sunday, this irresponsible decision by a feckless majority of the high court’s jurists, has given the federal government carte blanche to dictate medical decisions over the states and over the American people. Siding with Roberts are the usual liberal suspects: Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. The four dissenting justices were Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

With Roberts, there is the eerily similar turn a la former Justice David Souter, a 1990 appointment of President George H. W. Bush. Souter seen as a conservative became a reliable liberal jurist on the high court until his retirement in 2009. Will Roberts follow Souter as another Bush appointment to disappoint? Or will this landmark decision simply prove to be an aberration? Time will tell.

Regardless of how the individual mandate crossed the finish line, this is largely seen as a victory for the Obama administration. This has been his signature piece of legislation defining his term thus far. Largely seen, because the administration must now defend the largest tax increase in the history of the republic.

Yet, the so-called Affordable Health Care Act has been repeatedly defended by Obama saying, “This is absolutely not a tax increase.” His campaign mantra in 2008 had been that “taxes would not be raised by one thin dime.”

The federal government now has the constitutional authority to levy a tax on those people who chose not to purchase a health insurance policy. The American people can now be punished for opting not to buy something.

For adults with no coverage this translates into one percent of one’s income or $95 in 2014; two percent or $325 in 2015 and two and a half percent or $695 in 2016. Notice how the taxing penalties don’t take effect until after the 2012 presidential election? Wonder why? Wonder no more.

According to The Indianapolis Star “The IRS can’t prosecute violators or place liens against them; its only enforcement option may be withholding money from refunds.” (June 29, 2012; A-1)

Here’s a damn good suggestion folks: adjust your withholding by amending the W-4 form filed with employers. Have less money deducted from paychecks so there won’t be a refund coming to you the following April. This will do two positive things: put more money in your pockets every pay period and deny the federal government an interest free loan given them by overpaying your taxes. Sure, you may have to write a check to the IRS in April, but, better that than the possibility of the government stealing your refund because you choose not to purchase a product the government is forcing you to buy.

The Roberts’ Court decision on health care is precedent setting in that the federal government can now potentially mandate that we the people should be forced to buy a certain brand of vehicle that suits the administrations’ green agenda. Or perhaps a future Republican administration wishes to mandate that everyone must purchase a firearm to help keep police costs at bay.

Another disturbing aspect of the government seizure of health care is that it is about to hire an additional 16,000 IRS agents to enforce this legislation, proving that it is in fact, a tax. After all, the IRS is in the business of collecting taxes. This is more money spent, that we the people are funding, when the government is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Not only do a majority of the American people oppose Obama Care – the tax, but the medical profession is widely against it, many suggesting they will not be able to afford to keep their practices open. Costs will surely rise and fewer qualified doctors will remain in the profession.

Obama will need to defend this largest tax increase in American history in his campaign for reelection against former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. How will he juxtapose his campaign rhetoric of 2008 imploring voters that anyone earning less than $250,000 would not see a tax increase with an acknowledgement from the Supreme Court that Obama’s victory is a tax? That figure then became $200,000.

In reality, Obama Care will institute more than a trillion dollars in new taxes – 75 percent of which to be paid by those earning less than $120,000 and 50 percent of that to be incurred by those brining home between $25,000 and $75,000.

This must not be allowed to stand. In order to generate a repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act, a simple majority in Congress is required in what is known as a reconciliation vote. That would necessitate a minimum of 218 votes to overturn a tax, a.k.a. a budget item. The Republicans must gain a majority in the Senate in order to support their Congressional brethren, should this come down to a partisan vote, which it almost guarantees to do.

This is an attack on the liberty of a free people whose freedoms are eroding partly due to the expediency of entitlements and partly due to a lack of knowledge of American History and the Constitution. If we do not save ourselves, who will?

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Robbing Peter to Pay Pablo

Robbing Peter to Pay Pablo  
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
March 7, 2012

From the sublime to the absurd, it’s no wonder this country is such dire straits. When it comes to prioritizing its expenditures, the United States has it ass-backwards and it is more than just embarrassing.

When taxpaying citizens in uniform have their medical benefits sliced and diced beyond recognition and are required to pay more for them, that is simply unconscionable if not downright criminal.

Hearing the father’s impassioned plea to GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on the Huckabee show about the required care his brain-damaged son needs since returning from combat in Afghanistan is merely one heartbreaking story out of myriad others that should not have to be told. It is an absolute disgrace that any member of the military or their family should have to beg or appear on national television hat in hand for services that should be a given simply because they have worn the uniform of their country  and put their lives on the line every day.

The flip side of this warped album is while the veterans are being treated shabbily and with utter disdain and disrespect by the Obama administration, illegal aliens are being treated to medical coverage not afforded American citizens as well as giving them tax credits they neither earned nor are entitled to receive.

Can anyone with a modicum of intelligence argue that people sneaking across the southern or northern borders into the United States without proper documentation or permission has broken the law. This should be a rhetorical question. Yet, with so many people – liberals who want to pad the voter rolls for the Democrats and even some conservatives who seek cheap labor, turning blind eyes to this pandemic, having millions of illegals in the United States has become a permanent problem with few in Washington, DC having guts enough to tackle it head on for risk of being called a racist or the bigger risk of their cushy-tushy job on Capitol Hill.

However, for the majority of folks outside of Washington, DC who understand what the word illegal means, we are beyond apoplectic over both the irresponsibility toward our men and women in uniform as well as the willingness to turn over billions of dollars in benefits to people who have no legal standing in the United States.

ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) confirmed, via Newsmax, that they are required to provide at taxpayer expense, abortions as well as hormone therapy for transgendered illegals – “services” not afforded at taxpayer expense to American citizens. Huh? Yes, you read that correctly.

“The government will pay for an abortion in cases of rape or incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger,” according to the 2011 Operations Manual ICE Performance-Based National Detention Standards. Without meaning to sound insensitive, upon who is the onus of proof, to determine illegal alien was raped or the victim of incest? Just on their word? The word of a criminal who broke the law simply by setting foot on US soil?

The regulations also say that “transgender detainees who were already receiving hormone therapy when taken into ICE custody shall have continued access,” including “access to mental health care, and other transgender-related health care and medication based on medical need.”

This is sheer insanity! Upon capture and detention, all illegals should be photographed, fingerprinted, identified and returned to their country of origin never to be allowed legal entry into the United States. This is a no-brainer.

Another issue involving illegals stealing from American taxpayers upon who light must be shed is that of those paying zero dollars in taxes for jobs they have illegally, and yet are qualified to receive the Child Tax Credit - $1,800 per child, costing taxpayers $4.2 billion. This is beyond outrageous.

If a person is here in the United States illegally, how does this person garner employment? It is illegal for an illegal alien to have a job in the United States. Then, since the illegal alien has a job, there is a fiduciary responsibility called taxes, which are not paid. How does an illegal alien paying no taxes and having no Social Security number, qualify for a tax credit? The illegal alien can’t file an income tax form without a Social Security number.

What is also disturbing is that there are supporters who believe paying this tax credit to the illegals is not just acceptable, but appropriate in an effort to prevent them from living in poverty. They should not be living in the United States at all in the first place, let alone sucking off the government teat!

When and where will this all end? This is beyond the theater of the absurd. We are robbing Peter to pay Pablo when Pablo is here illegally and not entitled to anything. Meanwhile, Peter is risking his life wearing the uniform of his country, the United States, and being shunned upon his return stateside.

This nation has a moral responsibility to its soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. They, Mr. Obama, have done more than their fair share. Do what’s right by them and stop encouraging more miscreant behavior by those with no right to be here in the United States.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of a Happy Ending

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of a Happy Ending
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
March 4, 2012

The Declaration of Independence grants us, the American people, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” not life, liberty and the pursuit of a happy ending.

Thus should be the message Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke takes away from her testimony before Congress when she demanded that the government pay for her birth control in order to enjoy her more carnal pursuits.

The issue of contraception/birth control should be a non-starter in the grand scheme of campaign 2012. However, for Barack Hussein Obama, it is an excellent diversionary tactic to sidetrack the nation’s attention from his complete and utter incompetence in handling the affairs of state as apologizer in chief while continuing to run the economy into the ground.

Yet, because the issue of contraception has been Page One for weeks as an aspect of Obama-care and the mandate that forces American citizens to purchase a product, time must be wasted to remind people that they are not entitled to something simply because they claim they cannot afford it. Not to mention such a mandate violates the Commerce Clause – Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution.

Catholic institutions such as hospitals, charitable organizations and educational institutions, of which Georgetown University is one, have objected vehemently, with the support of patriots of other faiths, that forcing them to offer contraceptives as part of its healthcare insurance coverage violates church teachings. Of course it also violates the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Yet, there sat Fluke, a law student, age 30, seeking to have government force her university to violate its principles based upon the teachings of the church to which it adheres. Was Fluke not aware of the connection between her Jesuit university and the Catholic Church? If so, her request is disingenuous at best, and if this issue were that much of an imperative for her, she could most certainly gained admission into another law school. Georgetown is an excellent law school, after all.

Fluke further claimed she would spend $3,000 on contraceptives during her law school career – three years. At $1,000 per year Fluke is spending $83.33 per month. Apparently either Fluke is a poor shopper or an extremely active woman between the sheets. First issue first – Fluke’s ability to comparison shop. Condoms can be procured for less than $10 a box of a dozen or about $25 per month at a condom a day. She is in law school after all; does she study?

Having spoken with several women friends, they confirmed birth control costs at $16 a month at Costco and either $5 per month or $9 per quarter at Wal-Mart. Fluke cold also visit her local Planned Parenthood which would no doubt offer her a helpful discount. Not to mention, at most public institutions of higher learning, such as the University of Maryland, condoms can be garnered for free at its health center.

As for the second issue – that of Fluke’s potential promiscuity, not to pile on to Rush Limbaugh’s remarks calling Fluke a slut and a prostitute while asking for her to make sex tapes available for public purview in light of taxpayer funding of her sexual escapades, but he has a point, in spite of his apology for his overzealous speech. Limbaugh was wrong to call Fluke a slut – a slut gives it away, while Fluke is expecting, in her liberal sense of entitlement, for government to pay for her sexual activities. That in turn is the essence of prostitution. Limbaugh was also wrong and, quite frankly, creepy, to expect video of Fluke to be made public.

And while Limbaugh was opining on air, Obama, who apparently had nothing better to do than call Fluke and applaud her for standing strong and offering his support, thus sealing Fluke’s image as the national face of contraceptives. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney supported Obama’s call to Fluke explaining that it is wrong to publically attack private citizens, yet did not castigate his boss’s public criticism of the Koch brothers – David and Charles, also private citizens. Just another example of the Obama administration’s hypocrisy.

Regardless of who is standing on which side of this non-starter of an issue, it is wrong for Fluke to make demands of her university that go contrary to its beliefs. What next – will non-Mormons demand beer and coffee at Brigham Young University?

As a taxpayer, I should not be subjected to pay for Fluke’s or anyone else’s sexual proclivities. I know I’m not having the sex, but I sure feel like I’m getting screwed.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

It's Only the Constitution, Mr. Obama

It’s Only the Constitution, Mr. Obama

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

February 12, 2012

Barack Obama STILL doesn’t get it. Please send a copy of the United States Constitution to the White House because it is obvious he hasn’t read it recently, if at all. How on earth did Obama get through Harvard Law School?

Obama was flagrantly wrong when attempting to force Catholic institutions such as schools, hospitals and charities to provide contraception as part of the mandated Obamacare. Obama lost track of something called the First Amendment, wherein it says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

Obama demanded that the aforementioned Catholic institutions abandon Church doctrine and principles or face financial penalties for not caving to government interference with how a religion operates in these United States.

Having faced the justified ire of thousands of Catholics, pro-life adherents and many more from other faiths who support religious liberty, Obama changed course. But in doing so, he still has yet to learn his constitutional lessons.

Obama announced that instead of mandating Catholic institutions provide contraception, he would force insurance companies to provide contraceptives directly to the employees of those organizations for free.

Is the federal government now mandating an entire industry that it must give away a product? And, does anyone actually believe the insurance companies are just going to bow to Obama’s demands out of pure altruism? Don’t count on it. Instead, count on the insurance companies passing along the cost of the contraceptives they “give” away to us, the taxpayers.

Obama still just doesn’t get it. The federal government does not have the authority to force an industry to simply give away to some, for what others must pay. The Constitution does not give the Executive Branch such authority. The insurance industry, for all its pitfalls and foibles, still has the right to makes its own decisions and turn a profit. It’s part of the system of capitalism by which the economic principles of the United States are based.

Couple the contraception controversy with the overall constitutionally questionable Obamacare as a whole and we have a president who really must have been absent the semester the Constitution was taught. Here Obama is commanding the American people to purchase a product it may or may not want – medical insurance.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, commonly known as the commerce clause, gives Congress the power “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with Indian Tribes.” Nowhere does the commerce clause grant the Executive Branch ANY power, instead giving it to the Legislative Branch. And nowhere does the commerce clause give the Legislative Branch the authority to mandate how individual citizens spend their money or force them to purchase a specific product – in this case, medical insurance.

Should a person not wish to make such a purchase, he or she should have the freedom to not make that purchase knowing that the onus of responsibility for medical expenses falls exclusively on these people who have chosen to remain uninsured.

And make no mistake; this issue is also not about restricting the rights of women to procure contraceptives either. That is merely a canard by the left to scare people into supporting unconstitutional edicts by an administration seeking to control individuals’ rights regarding medical care. Women are perfectly able to purchase contraceptives on their own and we the people should not be paying for them with our tax dollars.

This issue is as much about contraception as Roe v. Wade (1973) is about abortion. Both are unconstitutional and both trample on freedoms. Obamacare tramples on the freedom of religion and violates the commerce clause. Roe v. Wade violates the 10^th Amendment of the Federal Constitution when the rights within that decision should have remained with the several states.

To Obama, I say get ye to a copy of the Constitution of the United States.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Obama Crosses Line on Church-State

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” US Constitution, Amendment I

Obama Crosses Line on Church-State

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

February 2, 2012

To paraphrase Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today we are all Catholics.

Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 men, women and children due to the airplane attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, PA, by radical Muslim terrorists, Netanyahu said “we are all Americans.” He said this to demonstrate the mutual support and grieving by decent people the world over.

Today we are all Catholics – at least those of us who are vehemently opposed to the complete overreach of government by Barack Obama and his unconstitutional mandate of state sponsored health care. Now more than ever it is vital that we the people stand united in opposing this heinous demand by an administration so hell-bent on pole vaulting over the fine line of church-state relations.

In yet another step toward total domination of government over the lives of a so-called free people with a constitution compete with a bill of rights, the Obama administration is attempting to destroy the formerly protected conscience clause by demanding that all health care plans include coverage for sterilization and contraception – including those that induce abortions.

This edict will force Catholic institutions such as schools, charities and hospitals to act contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church. This odious law is tantamount to government interference with church business.

So why am I, a non-Catholic, so apoplectic about this? First, this is a monstrous blow against religious liberty potentially affecting other religions. The slippery slope will lead us all into the depths of hell in a nation under siege by its government. This isn’t Communist Russia after all.

Second, it begs the question what religion will come under fire next? Will the insidious Obama-care outlaw circumcisions as unnecessary and elective in nature? And the Catholics don’t have a monopoly on being pro-life either. Clearly, this is an excessive entanglement impeding the free exercise of faith.

“This is not how our country was founded,” said Rabbi Aryeh Spero, in an interview in the Fox News Channel regarding his staunch opposition to Obama-care in general and the intrusion into the business of religious institutions. Spero is president of the Caucus for America, a conservative organization “dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the historic American civilization,” and “battling for the soul of America,” he explained.

This is an ongoing battle over the morality and culture of the United States – a war on religious liberties.

If the NCAA can jigger its March Madness schedule to prevent BYU from being forced to play Sunday games, surely the federal government can keep from violating the First Amendment to the Constitution by forcing Catholic organizations to act counter its teachings.

Does the federal government have the right to force its citizenry to purchase a product it deems necessary – in this case health insurance? Does not this violate the commerce clause in the Constitution? The Supreme Court will have to right the wrongs of the Obama administration, and sooner rather than later. The Obama administration cannot be allowed to trample over the Bill of Rights in an effort to forever amend the nature of the free society we call the United States of America.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Washington Hospital Needs its Head Examined

Washington Hospital Needs its Head Examined

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

March 1, 2010

Shame on Washington Hospital Center for its unconscionable and thoughtless behavior firing 11 nurses and five support staff simply for not being able to traverse the treacherous roads and arrive to work during the historic February blizzards. This after an admission by hospital spokesman So Young Pak that WHC-provided transportation could not retrieve employees.

“Pak said the hospital provided transportation for employees during the storm, but union representatives said it was not available at all times. …the vehicles could not reach every street. …some nurses have photos that show their streets were impassable.” (“11 nurses fired after snowstorm absences,” Feb. 28)

Many streets and some neighborhoods could not be plowed for even the heartiest to access. There were injuries and deaths on the roads. What good would that have been for WHC had their employees been among them?

The storms had been predicted for days. The short-sighted hospital should have made lodging arrangements for their essential personnel to ensure their presence at work. Short of that, send the EMTs to transport the employees.

These are always reasonable solutions. Reasonable institutions should not behave in an unreasonable manor regarding employees making a reasonable effort to be able to do their essential work. Get these folks back on the clock – with back pay.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

Obama-Care Makes America Sick

“The American people are understandably queasy.” – Barack Hussein Obama, July 22, 2009

Obama-Care Makes America Sick

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

July 23, 2009

What is making the American people queasy is a Congress that does not pay attention to those who hired them in the first place. What is making the American people queasy is a Congress that does not do the job for which it was hired. What is making the American people queasy is the possibility of a healthcare program run by the Federal Government – after all, we all know how well the government has run the postal service, the department of motor vehicles and the public school system.

In a press conference that revealed nothing except Obama’s serious lack of a grasp on reality and a mostly sycophantic, fawning press, the state of capitalism, free choice and a first class medical system are on the critical list with doctors and nurses fleeing from the patient.

Actually the possibility of doctors and nurses leaving their chosen professions is approaching reality as their incomes will drop, and they will lose many of the freedoms they and their patients currently enjoy. Yet, Obama claimed his plan is supported by the American Medical Association and the American Nursing Association. However, the reality is that  only 20 to 30 percent of AMA doctors support the plan and seven other medical societies have weighed in against the plan. Medical and nursing school will still cost an arm and a leg, but the days of top salaries will be a thing of the past. Obama all but admitted as much during his press lecture when he said that “we will cut medical costs.”

How will that happen? Via a drop in salaries? Cutting the cost of medical care? Cutting the cost of drugs? Obama mentioned having the support of the traditionally left of center AARP, which would make one think they could help cut the cost of medical care and drugs. However, those companies use profits to support candidates like Obama, so no chance of cutting the cost of medical care or drugs. Drug companies should not be begrudged their profits as they are the ones who conduct the research and development of the new drugs that are needed to fight diseases as well as the irresponsible behavior of Americans who live haphazard lives and expect government to take car of them womb to tomb and cradle to grave. Consider the amount of trial and error involved in R and D, thus the profit margin. This is a capitalist society and companies are entitled to reap the rewards produced by their risks and investments and make a profit.

Medical care in and of itself will wane simply because Obama is seeking to level the playing field to ensure that we all have worse care. He claims Americans pay $6,000 more per person than any other developed country – that is disingenuous as one cannot compare the United States to other countries with dissimilar populations and economies. Do we want health care a la Cuba, Sweden or even Great Britain, for example? Americans are not fleeing this country for health care overseas; just the opposite as thousands of foreigners are literally dying to get into the United States for medical treatment.

However, remember this is not really about health care, but instead health insurance. Obama noted there are allegedly 47 million people in the United States living sans health insurance, saying, “I want to cover everybody,” all but guaranteeing a rise in the cost of premiums to cover the uninsured. And it begs the questions, how many of the 47 million are in the United States illegally and how many simply choose not to be insured. Before Obama officially becomes the clone of Fidel Castro, he needs to be reminded that not having insurance is also a choice people in this country can make.

Obama asserted that people should be able to get affordable health care. Agreed; but it should not be thrust upon the American people; after all this is still a country of individual choice and personal responsibility.  Additionally, demonstrating that this is about health insurance and not health care, Obama said he has a goal to “take [the] profit motive out” of the insurance companies adding that they are “making record-breaking profits.” That’s the American way – capitalism in action. The Obama desire to curtail that process is him tipping his own hand showing his cards leading this country down a path toward socialism.

Obama also demonstrated his “don’t do as I say, do as I do” attitude when he condemned the politics of health care, saying it should not be a political volleyball. Yet, in the very next sentence, he blamed two Republicans, not by name, for attempting to stymie his plan without mentioning the Blue Dog Democrats who may (hopefully) sink this dastardly bill – a bill he himself has yet to read. Fortunately, Obama does not get to vote on it. Unfortunately, the people for whom it is the responsibility to read such legislation prior to voting yea or nay have yet to do so either. This is their job. This is what they were sent to Washington to do and they are neglecting their sworn duties. If they are not willing to do their jobs the voters must do theirs and replace these indolent weasels.

Not only are the members of Congress not reading the legislation they are writing, but they are being implored by Obama to pass the bill into law prior to taking their August recess. This is one time I am endorsing the Congressional recess, and for two reasons – when they are idle, they can do no harm and when they return to their home districts they will get earfuls from their constituents to hopefully get them to see the light and crush this feeble legislation into dust.

After all, why the rush to passage before the recess? Oh, because of the fear of the people threatening to vote against their representatives en masse in 2010 and denying Obama a perpetual Democratic majority in Congress to do his bidding. So much for the Obama promise of transparency.

And if Obama-care is so great, why has not every member of Congress signed on for it as their own family plan? Perhaps because there is a provision on page 16 of the 1,018-page monstrosity making individual private medical insurance illegal. If Ted Kennedy needs medical attention, every effort will be made to keep him alive, while simultaneously, grandma will be subjected to being cast upon an ice float in the Arctic. Conversely, Obama bragged about the great policies he and Congress have. Why are the American people not entitled to that plan? Perhaps the stars were not as fully aligned as Obama claimed they were during his press conference.

Another ridiculous part of the plan requires all employers to cover all employees. This will only lead to increased unemployment as employers who can not afford such a stringent coverage policy will simply cut their work force. And to what extent will employees actually be covered? When did employer provided health insurance become a right and not a privilege? Instead of the government dictating the policy, there should be more competition amongst health care providers and everybody will benefit.

Contact your representatives, or the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 to find your representative, demand that they first read the “health care for all Americans” bill, then vote against it, thus preserving what is currently the best health care in the world.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.