Medicare and the Constitution - A discussion with a liberal

By Douglas V. Gibbs

My Constitution Booth today at the 64th annual Murrieta Fire Department Bar-B-Que attracted all kinds of folks. At my booth I handed out pamphlets on "Health Care and the Constitution," and "Immigration and the Constitution," which I wrote a few years ago for the local Tea Party. In addition to those flyers, I handed out pocket constitutions, Political Pistachio business cards, and post card size invitations to the Thursday Temecula Constitution Class I lead once a week.

I also had a petition a friend of mine is circulating aimed at banning the traffic signal cameras. Since the cameras have been put into place, revenue has maybe slightly risen for the city, and the accident rates at those intersections have sky-rocketed. The presence of the cameras have become a safety issue - and that is not even considering that when you receive a ticket with your picture it asks if that is you in the picture. Isn't that self-incrimination? Aren't we supposed to be protected from incriminating ourselves? Isn't the burden of proof on the law enforcement agency?

An older couple walked up to my Constitution Booth, and the lady said to me, "Are you endorsed by the Tea Party?"

"I am affiliated with the Tea Party, but that is not what my booth is about. I am an originalist, and the booth is about sharing the original intent of the U.S. Constitution."

"Do you like Paul Ryan's budget plan?"

"From what I know of it, yes. I think it is a step in the right direction."

Then the woman's eyes narrowed, and she said, "He wants to take medicare from us, and screw it up with corporations through vouchers. Do you trust the corporations?"

"Your assessment," I said, "is not totally accurate. Nothing would change for those 55 and older. Everyone else would experience reforms to the system that includes getting federal subsidies to buy private insurance from a Medicare exchange set up by the government. I don't think we should pull the rug out from under folks whose lives have centered around expecting medicare. But, an incremental reform of the system, that will ultimately lead to getting the federal government out of the health care business, is the goal. Eventually, with the reforms, the system as it is now will become obsolete."

"So you like the health insurance companies."

"No," I said. "Insurance is the problem. But insurance exists because the federal government mandated it. And now they wish to replace the system with their own? We need to work our way back to the patient/doctor relationship."

"Then you want us all not to provide for ourselves. You want us to not have any healthcare, and for people to die."

"Not at all," I replied. "How did people do it before insurance companies?"

"They died," she said.

"Not so. Doctors worked with the patients, and the competition kept the prices down."

"Are you on medicare?" she asked me.

"No."

"Well, it is fantastic."

"And it is broke," I said. "They put out more than they bring in."

"But for you to say the government screws it up is wrong. It is wonderful."

"How wonderful it is is not the argument here," I said. "The federal government is not authorized to fund such programs."

She glared back with a deer in the headlights gaze.

"If the program is so great, then the federal government should ask the states for the authority to do so with an amendment. Otherwise, the federal government is acting outside its enumerated powers. They are acting unconstitutionally."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about? The federal government tells the states what to do, not the other way around."

I began to explain that the federal government exists because the states allow it to, and that the limited powers the federal government has were granted to it by the states. Besides, the Constitution doesn't bar the States from having these programs. Just the federal government. However, she threw her hands up and walked away.

The gentleman next to me, also a student in my Constitution class, had a big grin on his face.

"I enjoyed that exchange," I said nearly laughing.

"Yeah," he said, "but I am willing to bet that they are not smiling."

Such is the way of the liberal mind.

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