It is the insertion of Government into the healthcare system that has put us in the position we are in. Cronyism has given corporate interests such as big Pharma, medical insurance companies and hospitals the power to systematically remove competition, control prices and lead to the too big to fail phenomenon that has left doctors and patients on the outside looking in while those who know ‘what is best for us’ continue to gut what was once the best medical system in the world.  The medical insurance industry is an example of a supporter that helped lobby for the passage of Obamacare that has been a big winner.

While people like Moore make easy pronouncements about it being alright to wait for medical care because it is your patriotic duty, the reality is people are suffering because of these decisions. Physicians are put in the untenable position of watching their patients suffer needlessly and in some cases die. As physicians we take an oath to do no harm. It is time for physicians and patients to make our voices heard before choices are legislated away.

In reality, Obamacare will potentially put more people in a broken system that will systematically delay and deny care all in the name of cost savings for the false feel good meme of universal coverage.

We were readily dismissed and slandered by the Democrats in Congress; accused of being astro-turf and even racists. This diversionary tactic was cleverly employed to conceal the fact that Congress was, through calculation and deceit, forcefully imposing their ultra-liberal agenda on the American people.

Let’s make no mistake about it.  This is socialized medicine that will cost us trillions of dollars that we DO NOT HAVE, but don’t worry…we will print the money to cover the bill. Even better, Congress and the President have decided your liberty means very little to them if it means more control for Washington, so the IRS will now force you to enter into an insurance contract against your will.

When was the last time we had 28 states suing the federal government? When was the last time you had a million people take to the streets in opposition to the actions of Congress? When was the last time we saw such a sweeping sea-change in a congressional election cycle? We are beyond angry. We want the insanity to stop in Washington D.C.

So what are the next steps as we mourn this one year anniversary? The House passed a bill to repeal Obamacare, but little else has been done. It is now time to play hardball. No more continuing resolutions, no more contemplation of raising the debt ceiling, no more token $6 billion cuts. Let’s repeal this direct offense to our liberty and make President Obama veto it. Next, let’s defund and gut this legislation. I don’t want lame excuses for no action and I could care less about all the gamesmanship.

The tea party grassroots has had a tremendous impact on our political landscape. We made huge strides this past November. But our work is not done yet. If we are serious about abolishing Obamacare, then we must elect constitutional candidates to the U.S. Senate that have the grit and the fire to go to the wall.  I can promise you all one thing: I have stood in the cold, attended rallies, emailed, called, blogged, spent thousands of dollars of my own money, and dragged my kids all over Virginia in an effort to destroy this cancer on our freedom…and if elected as the next U.S. Senator from Virginia, I will do everything in my power to repeal, defund and kill government controlled health care.  But it will only happen if the tea party stays involved and influences elections all over the country. Will you join me?

Recent guest  Stanley Kurtz decided to do what the press failed to do – take an honest look at Obama’s politics.   His investigation resulted in Radical-in-Chief: Barack Obama and the Untold Story of American Socialism. In this episode, Kurtz discusses the many socialist influences in Obama’s life, from his college years to his time as a community organizer, with men such as Bill Ayers, Frank Marshal Davis, and Jeremiah Wright.

In examining Obama’s main mentors, Kurtz begins to see a clear ideology that motivates the President’s disdain for the middle class, take-no-prisoners approach to passing socialized healthcare, reluctance to discuss political theory and desire for, ultimately, a socialist revolution.

Here is the full episode, you won’t want to miss it:

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It’s no surprise that the announcement of the creation of “end of life counseling” comes from the rationer-in-chief Donald Berwick — the unconfirmed head of the Office of Medicare and Medicaid Services. Berwick has said that “Cynics beware, I am romantic about the [British] National Health Service, I love it.” Here’s another Berwick quote: “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care, the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.”

It’s clear the bureaucrats have begun to ration care with their “eyes open” but the question is the American people seeing what is happening?

For decades, America was not only the golden land of opportunity; it was the place where the sick would come for cutting edge treatments that could not be found anywhere else. The socialist health care systems of Europe could not save your life, but a trip to America often could. Americans took this for granted. But we cannot anymore.

Over 17,500 women rely on Avastin to extend their lives — many of who will see their drugs ripped from their hands. News First 5 in New Mexico reports on Patty Esquibel who has Stage-4 breast cancer that’s spread to her lungs and claimed both of her breasts. But she says, she’s alive today and has beaten cancer twice because of Avastin. Now she says, she can only hope the federal government re-evaluates, before her biggest fear comes true and the cancer comes back. “I’m not mad I’m just hurt, I’m upset and disappointed, I wish they would reconsider for those of us with breast cancer, it’s working for us,” she says.

But Avastin is just the tip of the problem. Other drugs in the pipeline will be denied insurance coverage if cost becomes a factor on the approval process. Why would any company invest a decade of more into research if they cannot recoup their investment? The FDA’s decision threatens the drug pipeline that has saved lives for decades. But even if drug companies throw caution to the wind and continue to produce the drugs, what good will it do if patients are denied access?

And that is the fundamental issue. Will America continue to pursue cutting-edge (and often expensive) drugs to save lives, or will we worship at the altar of government budgetary goals. Will we as a nation accept bureaucratic rationing of care or will we demand that we be allowed to pursue the best treatment options for families and ourselves?

As Congress begins to debate the repeal of ObamaCare, the effects on the patients must be the center of the debate — and nothing harms patients more than denying them the care and treatment they need to survive — even if the government is offering counseling in its place.

In a detailed report, the Boston Herald describes the planned Edward M. Kennedy Institute as a “temple for Ted Kennedy built with pork.”

According to their account, congressional Democrats—especially Massachusetts senators John Kerry and Edward Markey—have been cramming earmarks for the project into various government funding bills. The Herald found that Kerry and Markey even intend to siphon $28.9 million of the institute’s funding from the Defense Department budget, with almost $19 million of that amount already signed into law.

Why do they think taxpayers should be paying for this shrine? A statement from a Kerry spokesman declared that the institute will bring “knowledge and good citizenship to thousands of young people.”

This has raised the ire of taxpayer watchdog groups. “If the Kennedy family wants to honor the senator, they should find a way to fund it themselves,” David E. Williams of Citizens Against Government Waste told the newspaper. Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense agreed that “this could be independently funded and doesn’t need to be getting taxpayer dollars.”

Indeed.

Clearly, it’s not as if the Kennedy clan is without financial means to fund the project themselves. Or, if they wished, they could send out private appeals on the family stationery to, say, George Soros—or to John Kerry’s wife, catsup heir Teresa Heinz Kerry—right from their posh family compound in Hyannisport. I’m sure Laurie David could be prevailed upon to throw a fundraiser in memory of “the lion of liberalism” at the Beverly Wilshire.

However, their reliance on federal funding suggests a broader agenda is in play. After all, in an era of trillions in red ink, why would congressional liberals insist on adding tens of millions to a national debt that their president has promised to “get serious about”? Why earmarks for something that most Americans would find to be a frivolous expenditure?

Obviously because liberals don’t think of it as a frivolous expenditure. In fact, it is a project of great importance to them—because it’s meant to establish an official, symbolic, governmental shrine to political liberalism.

Consider: What, exactly, is significant about Senator Kennedy? What does he symbolize?

To millions in Flyover America, “Teddy” was despised as a pampered playboy, known for decades of drunken philandering even after his unforgivable role in the death of a girl in Massachusetts.

But to the left, Ted Kennedy was and remains an icon of liberalism—and specifically, a lifelong champion of socialized medicine. That, after all, was his signature cause.

So, I believe that establishing Teddy’s Temple with millions of taxpayer dollars is meant to serve twin purposes.

First, it is intended to enshrine the pretense that one’s politics is more important than any other aspect of one’s personal character. The issue here transcends Kennedy. A central pillar of the liberal worldview is its sweeping rejection of self-responsibility—its claim that no one is ultimately responsible for his actions, but is instead a victim or plaything of circumstances beyond his control. Liberals forgave Kennedy for his personal failings just as they did Bill Clinton—because in their worldview, nobody is to be held individually accountable, either for his sins or his virtues. The ironic flip side of this premise is that everyone is instead his “brother’s keeper,” responsible for everyone on the planet except himself.

Thus, professing liberalism gives you a free pass for all manner of personal immorality and irresponsibility. All you need to do to dry clean your reputation is to advocate policies that promote egalitarian “fairness” toward your fellow “victims of circumstance.”

Second, Teddy’s Temple is a means to an even broader end. That end is to elevate his liberal ideology to the status of an official, government-approved “ideal.” You can be sure that the “good citizenship” propagated at his shrine will translate into speeches, writings, video clips, totems, classes, and materials extolling his liberalism generally, and his advocacy of socialized medicine specifically—all paid for with your hard-earned dollars.

The leftists backing this institute know all this, and they intend for precisely these lessons to be preached there and absorbed by future generations. They understand perfectly well the power of moral symbolism and government-imposed “standards.” So, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute is calculated to establish liberalism’s anti-self-responsibility ideology as a national moral doctrine, to supplant the American legacy of individualism and personal self-responsibility that they despise.

I believe there is a third, more subtle goal here, too. Senator Kennedy was a fierce opponent of a strong national defense generally, and of virtually every specific military action our nation has conducted since World War II. Diverting millions from the Defense Department budget to the Kennedy Institute can only symbolize the liberal value hierarchy, which places a moral priority on domestic social-welfare programs over national defense.

Opposition to federal funding for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute has focused almost exclusively on its ballooning costs to the taxpayer. But we should not oppose this simply as a wasteful and unnecessary expenditure of federal funds. We should oppose the use of taxpayer dollars for this project on grounds of ethical principle—as both an explicit and symbolic rejection of American individualist ideals, and as a deliberate slap in the face of our men and women in uniform.

Thomas Jefferson summed up concisely the moral issue at stake: “To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical.”

That’s quite alright, because I would rather come directly to you to make important announcements like this:  Lt. Governor Phil Bryant has entered our class action lawsuit against the PPACA as an individual, private citizen.  He is serving as a Petitioner, and is the class representative for a uniquely important class:  employees of the State of Mississippi.

Lt. Governor Phil Bryant addresses crowd in Jackson, Mississippi

Why this new class is important.

Congress is now dictating what must be — and must not be — in your health insurance plan.  In other words, they are controlling the health insurance that your employer is offering you.  Socialism is defined as “government ownership or control of all the means of production (farms, factories, mines, and natural resources) and all the means of distribution (transportation, communications, and the instruments of commerce).”  Realize, “socialized medicine” is here, right now.  Even worse, by controlling what health insurance plans must be offered, Congress and the Executive branch are controlling your employer, and thus your employment.

Your liberty depends on the survival of your republic.  The PPACA is a direct attack on the republican form of government.

Every kid who’s ever put hand over heart and recited the Pledge of Allegiance knows that we live in a republic:  “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Kids pledging allegiance to the flag, and "to the republic for which it stands"

In fact, we have been blessed with what James Madison called “the compound republic of America,” having been guaranteed that each state is a sovereign republic in itself, not just the national government.  In this unique and hugely successful system of government, federal control over the states is an anathema:

This separation of the two spheres is one of the Constitution’s structural protections of liberty. “Just as the separation and independence of the coordinate branches of the Federal Government serve to prevent the accumulation of excessive power in any one branch, a healthy balance of power between the States and the Federal Government will reduce the risk of tyranny and abuse from either front.”

Printz v. U.S., 521 U.S. 898 (1997) (Scalia, J).  We’ve spent so much time focusing on the separation of powers amongst the three branches of government that we’ve forgotten about the very vital separation of powers between the States and Congress.  If the federal government dictates what the States can do, our republic is destroyed, and liberty-robbing tyranny is all that can result.

Congress has chosen to commandeer our state employees, even our elected officials, with the PPACA.  Lest you think that “commandeer” is too strong of a word to use, consider that the federal government now controls the terms and conditions of employment for all state workers everywhere.  States now must offer health insurance plans dictated only by the federal government; we all recognize that a health insurance plan is one of the most important aspects of the employer-employee relationship.  In fact, since it is nothing more than a form of compensation, it really is the most important aspect.

In the Printz v. US case I cited above, Justice Scalia said:  “When we were at last confronted squarely with a federal statute that unambiguously required the States to enact or administer a federal regulatory program, our decision should have come as no surprise.”  I think you can guess that the Court’s response was rather chilly toward the federal government’s overreaching.  In FERC v. Mississipi, the Supreme Court said that “this Court never has sanctioned explicitly a federal command to the States to promulgate and enforce laws and regulations.” FERC v. Mississippi, 456 U.S. 742, 761-62 (1982).  Congress may not commandeer state officials, or any state employees, in order to implement federal law.  In substance, this is exactly what Congress has done with the PPACA.  This is a clear violation of state sovereignty, and utterly destructive of the Constitution’s guarantee of a compound republic.

This class, that of state employees, is uniquely important.  Do you really want Congress to dictate the terms of employment between your state government and your state officials and civil servants?  Realize, this is 180 degrees out of phase with the intentions of the Framers, and with the clear statements implementing their vision found in the Constitution that they wrote.

Why is it important that Lt. Governor Bryant is a petitioner?

Lt. Governor Bryant is showing that any elected official can do this.  Actually, any state employee can do this, but we all recognize how important it is for us to get our elected leaders to take point, and lead.

Lt. Governor Bryant has a long history of fighting for conservative beliefs and traditional values.  His persistence in promoting conservative public policy stems from his belief that people, not the government, know best how to take care of themselves.  The way I see it, he has been fighting for liberty — freedom — for years.  I cannot think of a better person in this great State to represent the new class we have added.

He’s also a candidate for Governor.  Think about this — why shouldn’t our candidates, whether currently in office of not, be petitioners?  Why shouldn’t we go to town hall meetings, campaign rallies, and press conferences in order to push them into action, not just into making statements?

Here in Mississippi, as in other states, most people want for our state to enter into the lawsuit filed in Florida by fifteen other states.  Governor Haley Barbour (the very effective chairman of the Republican Governors Association and a former RNC chairman) has been pushing our Attorney General — a Democrat — to get into the lawsuit, but to no avail.  Governor Barbour is quite resourceful, and we hope that he will find a way to work around this obstacle.  Regardless, Lt. Governor Bryant isn’t waiting for anyone — he’s taking action now.

Put up or shut up.

Here in Mississippi, I’m proud to say that we’re up to two prominent elected officials (Senator Chris McDaniel and Lt. Governor Phil Bryant) who are taking positive, substantive action to save our healthcare system from the clutches of socialism, and our republican form of government from Congress.  How many does your state have?  None?  Well then, maybe it’s time that you made them earn their pay.

Write a letter, fax or email to the elected officials in your own state and tell them it’s time to stop posturing.  Are any of them hiding behind their Attorney General, saying “gee whiz, I want the state to get involved, but we can’t force the AG to do it, sorry guys”?  Tell them it’s time to put up, or shut up.  It takes courage for an elected state official to do what Lt. Governor Bryant is doing, but that is precisely what we demand of our elected officials — courage to do what is right.

So, what are you waiting for?  Get busy.

Before the first light of dawn on the morning after this Pelosi Congress sent Obamacare to the President’s desk, I started the process to repeal.My decision to take this fight to and through the next election and probably through the presidential election in 2012 was not a knee jerk response to a legislative defeat.It is a commitment to the Constitution, fiscal responsibility, real health care reform and American Liberty.

President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid – the troika that controls America today – have long had designs to shove America into the abyss of socialism. Their philosophy, political power and cynical effort to expand the dependency class all lined up to make Obamacare the law of the land. The highest price every generation of Americans will pay is not measured in dollars but in lost liberty.

America is a unique nation with unmatched vitality. The rights and liberties which transformed the “Dream” into the reality of American Exceptionalism are written on our hearts. We have a vitality that is unmatched because we have skimmed the cream of the crop off every donor civilization.

Millions have flocked to America because of the promise of liberty. They have joined natural born Americans to form the most vigorous culture on the planet. Every preceding generation has had the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail.

Obamacare is a reversal of the formula that has produced the world’s unchallenged greatest nation. For these reasons, 100 percent of Obamacare must be repealed.

With the massive costs of Obamacare, we cannot hope to pay our debts in our lifetimes or our children’s. Under Obamacare, costs will go up and quality will go down. Under Obamacare, we must go all the way to the Supreme Court to reestablish the Constitution as a pact limiting the reach of the federal government.

However, all of the aforementioned will not crush our national spirit like the oppressive weight of mandated dependency. Obamacare takes away the American right to manage our own lives.

The rights to “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” are prioritized rights. No one has the right to kill in the name of liberty just as no one has the right to take your liberty in pursuit of their happiness. Obamacare is a “taking” of our liberty.

We the People understand this intuitively and reject this injustice which will, if not repealed, bring about the American decline. We cannot “hide the decline” or “manage the decline.” We must decline the decline by repealing 100 percent of Obamacare.

Every provision of Obamacare must be repealed – not selective parts of it. Not by preserving a short list of less egregious components. Obamacare must be ripped out completely, lock, stock and barrel – root and branch – no vestige left behind – not a DNA particle of Obamacare retained.

The toxic stew of Obamacare would taint every effort to reform and give the next generation of leftist politicians their talking points for another assault on our liberty. Republicans will either stand unanimously together for 100 percent repeal, as we did against the bill, or our ranks will be split and our effort defeated.

The voracious appetite of the leftists to consume American Liberty has spontaneously created a new class of activists whom I define as the “constitutional conservatives.” They are the 9-12 Project groups, all the Tea Party groups, and the organizations who join in their efforts.

Constitutional conservatives are emerging as the new majority makers and will not support a partial repeal. They stood in the streets, town halls and capitols of our states and nation to “Kill the bill.”

No one demonstrated to “kill the most egregious aspects” or “preserve the least egregious aspects” of Obamacare. This is an all or nothing fight from this point forward. Either we will be unified, energized and resolute for 100 percent repeal or we will be divided and deservedly conquered by Obama, Pelosi and Reid.

This is a life or death struggle for the soul of America. We are the redoubt of Western Civilization. It is our charge to set the standard for the world.

From an upstart nation formed on the profound belief that all men are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” we have, over the past century assumed “among the Powers of the Earth,” the responsibility of sole superpower. We have defeated our enemies and saved Western civilization for the world.

We are not a nation created to mimic mediocrity. Our charge is to take this nation upwards to a new level of liberty and prosperity built upon the pillars of american exceptionalism.

This article originally appeared in The Washington Times.