Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Corporal Gripweed: Health Care Law Threatens Freedom


Wednesday, July 4th, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Corporal Gripweed
Commentary

" As government expands, liberty contracts."
                                         Ronald Reagan

As an opinion columnist for City Stink, I have steadfastly limited my comments to issues of local interest. This week, I feel compelled to break that precedent. Why?

Realizing that the country would be celebrating the two-hundred thirty-sixth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence today, along with the knowledge that the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare was constitutional, made local politics seem a bit trivial by comparison…

As a conservative, I am disheartened to say the least. Not because I think the system we have in place now is perfect. I'm disheartened because our "friends " on the left followed their  usual pattern of putting the issue in the hands of the government, rather than trying to find other solutions to the problem. Which leads me to believe that this whole issue is not, and never was about healthcare nor health insurance. It's goal was to destroy the private healthcare system thereby forcing every one into a single-payer government run program, that will ultimately reduce availability and erode quality for EVERY American. Simply stated,…it puts  power over you and every decision you make concerning your healthcare in the hands of a government that can't even balance it's own checkbook…

In 1927, an American Socialist, Norman Thomas, six time presidential candidate on the Socialist Party ticket said, "The American people will never vote for socialism, but under the name of liberalism,the American people will adopt every fragment of socialism."
  I fear that with this ruling we slip a bit closer to the abyss..

The other side of this equation is the Declaration of Independence.This document heralded the beginning of the "great experiment", known as The United States of America. Now two hundred thirty six years later we celebrate this event with fireworks, picnics, barbecues and ball games. But I wonder….do we really understand it's meaning anymore?

Do we really understand that these men fought  ,and in some cases died,to keep this kind of governmental intrusion out of our daily lives?….Are we confident our children are being taught the principles of representative government and limited federal power put forth in the Constitution? Do most of us understand that the  Revolutionary War was, at it's core, a tax revolt.

Sadly,this seems not to be the case anymore….

President Gerald Ford said, " A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take from you everything you have."

This Independence Day, try to do less celebrating and more soul searching about what kind of country we want to hand down to your heirs.. And please vote accordingly this November. This is arguably the most important election in modern times. It will dictate which direction this country is headed….Our children depend on us getting it right…..as do freedom seeking people all over the world who look to us to be strong, steady and solvent.

Lastly, if our friends on the left are right and Obamacare turns out to be a success (which I seriously doubt) I will have lost a little more freedom and even more  of my hard earned money.
But if conservatives are right and this government uses our healthcare as a way to further erode our freedoms, we've all lost. Liberals, Conservatives …America….***
CG

* Do You Agree or Disagree? Have your say by leaving a comment below or send your own guest column to CityStink@gmail.com**

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