Is the mandate in the Affordable Care Act necessary? Is it Constitutional?

As we all know, the constitutionality of this law is being discussed right now in the Supreme Court. Really, it’s not the constitutionality of the law but of the mandate in the law requiring every citizen to purchase Healthcare. Now at first glance this mandate does seem heavy handed and intrusive but on the other hand would we feel the same way if this was introduced as a social insurance program like Social Security. We are all mandated to pay into this yet the constitutionality of this program is not in question. Ask yourself the following: What is more important, your health or retirement? Now for me personally that is an easy answer. Without my health what good is retirement funding going to be. I believe the law is within the framework of our Constitution even though I do not think it will pass and I do not like the idea of being forced to pay anything. What I think is important to touch on is that if the law passes the mandate is necessary, this law cannot be “salvaged” by trying to piece the remains together without the mandate.

There is now way around getting the benefits of this law without the mandate. Without the insurance providers getting the extra exposure of clients buying in, it is impossible to receive benefits such as banning discrimination against pre-existing conditions or keeping your kids on your plan for a longer duration. Simply put, insurance companies need more people buying insurance to balance the cost of providing these new benefits. Jonathan Gruber, a health economist at MIT, who advised both Massachusetts and the Obama administration on their respective healthcare bills, told the New York Times in 2011: “The mandate is the spinach you need to get the chocolate you want.” I’ve seen arguments about trying to salvage the law without the mandate but do not believe that is a viable option. If this was the case, individuals could take advantage of the system by not purchasing insurance until they were sick. This will result in an extreme drain on insurance plan funding and then drive up costs for everyone else which of course is one value and benefit of the reform the law is trying to resolve.

The Constitutionality of the law is definitely in question and I will leave that up to the Supreme Court Justices. There are limitless tangents I can touch on regarding this based on previous court rulings, interstate commerce, the 10^th Amendment or will this open up Government for even more power that could or could not be abused or mismanaged. The “Broccoli Argument” – if our government can make us pay for Health Insurance can it make me buy broccoli?

Based on my research and findings mentioned earlier, my argument is that this law is a package deal. We take it all with the mandate or we take none of it. 

Left vs. Limbaugh

When I initially heard about Rush Limbaugh’s comments directed at Sandra Fluke I was shocked. In this day and age to hear a supposedly educated person attack an individual and ongoing argument about government funded contraception with such rude, tasteless, ignorant, close minded, vulgar comments honestly scared me. Are we regressing in our social interaction and communication to just be as aggressive and controversial as possible to be heard? Believe me Rush Limbaugh makes me extremely proud to be a Liberal and as far removed from his thoughts and belief’s as possible. The thought that a segment of our society is saying, “Yeah Rush, you tell em,” is the scariest part of the big picture regarding the scope of his influence on the conservative voice. The more we learn about politics the more we realize it is two sides spinning each and every word from a topic into a fabric that bends the truth of the statements into a means of helping either sides cause. For example, let’s look at what Rush Limbaugh attempted to do as explained by Jon Stewart. "What is even going through Rush Limbaugh's fevered mind to get from 'young woman trying to get private institution to cover contraception' to 'prostitution, slut, having constant sexy-sex on my dime?" declared The Daily Show host, attempting to deconstruct the conservative radio host's reasoning. In my opinion nothing scares me more than close minded people. Now also “in my opinion” Jon Stewart is an open minded, smart individual who clearly see’s the absurdity in Limbaugh’s actions. Stewart continued: "He seems to believe that anyone using contraception is automatically having ... a TON OF SEX! And that contraception is something a woman has to pay for every time she has sex! And that the woman is nevertheless benefitting financially from all that dirty, contraceptive-fueled, dirty sex!" Now to keep from going insane listening to comments like this from Limbaugh I have to deduce that he (and most conservatives) do not really think this way and this is purely him doing everything possible to get a conservative elected. To believe anything else would be the realization that I live in a society that despite progressing in age and years has experienced zero growth or progression in people’s rights, discrimination, etc. and I do not want to believe that. 

So with this going on I decided to read a blog on the right side of things. I came across Michelle Malkin’s blog touching on this very topic. Now if I were a conservative stance woman I would be extremely upset with Limbaugh’s comments. He simply attacked women and their rights (in an extremely cave man & ignorant vain) and tried to put a political spin on it. Malkin chose to try and spin her take on this issue targeting our President after he decided to call Fluke regarding this issue. That’s when she then wrote this blog entry calling out Obama for making the call to Fluke for political gain. Really??? You are going to take on this topic and try to spin it against Obama? If anything I would hope to see you take a stance for women in general, shunning Limbaugh’s comments and taking your own stance on this topic in your blog. Instead, this is what we get: “But it’s ok. Conservative women don’t need coddling phone calls from Obama. We just need him to get out of the White House and out of our lives.” Ok, then how about a call from Rush Limbaugh to conservative women next time you need a voice on an issue. Better be careful what you wish for. I am ok with Obama’s decision to call Fluke in what is a very high interest topic that resulted in a verbal attack on her personally. If political gain was achieved then great, the left did not start the mudslinging. Contraception does not equal promiscuity it equals safety and responsibility. Malkin in my opinion failed in this post. Politics out of the equation how can you respect attacking the President’s action as self-serving when your conservative voice (Limbaugh) is clearly in the wrong in so many ways on this one.