by Anthony G. Martin
Columbia Conservative Examiner
December 23, 2009
Although Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed to allow Democrats to move up the vote on the Senate version of ObamaCare so that Congress could go home for Christmas, Republicans are far from giving up the fight.
Even before Congress has a chance to work out a successful compromise between the House and Senate versions of the bill after the holidays, Congressional Republicans and conservative organizations are preparing legal challenges to the bill should it reach Obama’s desk.
At issue are at least three glaring Constitutional problems with the healthcare ‘reform’ measure Obama and the Democrats seem determined to approve over the loud protests of the American people.
First, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, R-SC, points to perhaps the most serious aspect of the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, slipped in a provision in his behind-closed-doors sessions that essentially forbids the Senate from amending the legislation in the future–EVER…
…Second, GOP Senator John Ensign is committed to challenging the legality of the bill at the point that mandates citizens purchase a product from a private seller. In addition, two non-profit groups, the Fund for Personal Liberty and the 10th Amendment Foundation, have stated they will file suit in federal court concerning this issue if the bill is approved. They will be joined in the lawsuit by the Washington Legal Foundation.
If this bill is approved by Congress and signed by Obama, it will be the first time in American history that citizens have ever been required by the federal government to purchase anything from anyone. And there is solid Constitutional precedent that confirms the protests of Ensign and the non-profit groups.
Third, the bill has already run afoul of the equal protection clause in the Constitution when the Democratic leadership granted special exemptions to the states represented by Senators whose votes were needed to reach the crucial 60 votes to approve the measure.
In what is being described as bribes, the Democratic leadership gave sweetheart deals to such Democratic Senators as Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Chris Dodd, Independent Socialist Bernie Sanders, and Blanche Lincoln in order to secure their votes.
The problem lies in what they were given…
The entire article is worth reading in full at the Examiner.
