In the 3rd Congressional District of Missouri, a race for the ages is taking place.  Ed Martin (R), one of the originals involved with the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition and endorsed by that organization, is fighting to replace Russ Carnahan (D), representative of everything the tea party movement has been fighting against.

This was not supposed to be a competitive race.  The district was designed as a safe seat for Democrats, carving out pieces of St. Louis and the union stronghold of Jefferson County.  If it had not been a safe seat, Carnahan’s campaign would have been over a year ago when SEIU goons beat Kenneth Gladney at one of his health care town halls or a few months ago when the state passed the Missouri Health Care Freedom Act with 71% of the vote.

The 3rd District likes politicians that like to politic.  Traditionally, the representatives of this district have been fairly public figures that engage the voters.  This is not Russ Carnahan.  He cannot speak without his constituents laughing at him. He knows nothing about guns in a gun-friendly district.  He sends video of himself to speaker forums instead of showing up.  He does what he is told to do by Nancy Pelosi, and he sends taxpayer dollars outside of his district to support his brother’s windmill farm. (more…)

Today, Missouri voters will vote on Proposition C, the nation’s first statewide referendum on Obamacare.

The measure—based on the American Legislative Exchange Council’s model Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act now proposed in 42 states—challenges the individual mandate, a key provision of the new federal healthcare law that requires people to have health insurance or pay fines by 2014.

Predictably, special interest groups and their big-government allies have launched a full-scale assault on Proposition C and the concept of health care freedom.

But as the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”

Let’s look at the most common accusation launched by Proposition C opponents and why the Show Me State would benefit from a little truthtelling.

The Missouri Hospital Association charges that, without a requirement to purchase health insurance, people will become “freeloaders” who impose their costs on taxpayers and clog emergency rooms.

Although the cost of treating the uninsured is borne by those of us with health insurance, researchers estimate these costs to be just 2-3% of overall health spending.

And the most recent study from the National Center for Health Statistics shows that people on Medicaid—a program that, thanks to Obamacare, will add 300,000 Missourians to its rolls—are more than twice as likely to visit the emergency room than the uninsured.

What Proposition C opponents don’t tell you is that so-called “freeloaders” will continue to show up in the emergency room with or without a mandate.  Massachusetts, a state that imposed an individual mandate in 2006, has seen its ER use climb by 17% since the law was enacted.

(more…)

No, not because this is the day that the 30th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, was sworn into office; although the words of “Silent Cal” lend credence to the modern movement in opposition to progressive-statism.  Take a gander:

Civilization and profit go hand in hand.

Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.

There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no one independence quite so important, as living within your means.

Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.

Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business.

To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.

President Coolidge may be the most under-rated president in American history, but his words do little to roll back the progressive machine now.  The beginning of that roll-back does not occur on November 2, but much earlier.  On August 3, 2010, Missouri voters will be tasked with the responsibility of taking the first stand against Obamacare, the progressive panacea, by voting for the Missouri Health Care Freedom Act (MHCFA) in a public referendum.

(more…)

Repealing Obamacare via Article V is a means of last resort, or rather a threat to the national bureaucratic government should those in Washington not jump on board.  In the meantime, states, those individual laboratories of liberty, are attempting a number of remedies.

States have filed lawsuits, but my legal background makes me wary of relying on the judicial branch to make the ultimate decisions on policy.  Marbury v. Madison established the Supreme Court’s role as the ultimate arbiter in conflicts involving the Constitution, but that does not guarantee that correct decisions will result.  So first we will examine the legislative solutions.

Many states across the country are either introducing laws or revising constitutions to protect Americans from the tyranny of Obamacare.  The progress of these Health Care Freedom Acts or Amendments are being tracked by various groups.  Most of this legislation is fairly simple to read and understand.  Basically, states are refusing to enforce or enact Obamacare, which is perfectly reasonable under the present legal understanding of federalism.  The national government cannot force states to enforce unfunded federal law.  A perfect example of this is the increasing decriminalization of marijuana in communities across America.  Local police are handing out tickets (much better for revenue than throwing people in jail). (more…)

The Conservative Political Action Conference isn’t all fiery speeches and political red meat.  Following the rousing speech by Rep. Mike Pence on Friday, a much more subdued presentation by Dr. Eric Novack described the efforts of states to pass a version of the Health Care Freedom Act, which I previously discussed here.  Much has happened since I last talked about the efforts of states to protect individual health care rights.

The number of states advancing legislation to protect individual choice from federal mandates has increased since December from 24 states to 35.  But merely introducing legislation isn’t enough; we need victories.

Virginia delivered a first step toward just that, as its state House recently passed a version of the Health Care Freedom Act. Elsewhere, the Tennessee Senate passed the bill 26-1, while other states, such as Idaho, have successfully advanced the bill out of committee.

These bills offer to protect citizens in two crucial ways. First, they would guarantee the right to purchase care directly, so that bureaucrats cannot be forced between patients and doctors against their will. Second, it would assure that citizens are protected from unconstitutional mandates to purchase insurance by allowing them to opt-out from any such federal program.

(more…)