bobbyw24
01-10-2010, 09:46 AM
Author Jake Towne is a member of RPF and is running for Congress in PA. He would be an excellent complement to Dr. Paul in the House
"In questions of powers, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution." - Thomas Jefferson, from the Virginia Resolution of 1798by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
(libertarian)
Friday, January 8, 2010
"It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - C.S. Lewis
Last month both the House and Senate passed two very dissimilar bills with the same purpose - to tax the American people around $900 billion more, and intervene government bureaucrats into the private lives of each man, woman, and child.
As I painstakingly laid out in my health care plank last summer, its unintended consequences will worsen the quality of care and affordability of health care. I believe the TRUE issue at stake is affordability and cost - if an MRI cost $200 instead of $3,000, it would be a lot less imperative to suggest drastic changes like socialized medicine. The TRUE root cause is government-sponsored insurance cartels and quality-depleting, cost-increasing legislation such as the HMO Act of 1973. After all, President Nixon was told "all the incentives [of HMOs] are toward less medical care, because the less care they give them, the more money they make and all the incentives run the right way."
I have solutions for lower costs, higher quality, and more features, both in the plank and in this interview on Radio Free Market.
1. I would introduce tax relief legislation to allow individuals and families to reduce their federal income tax nearly dollar-for-dollar by the amounts they spend out-of-pocket on private health care premiums.
2. I would seek to remove the insurance state portability barriers that Congress has erected to protect the insurance cartels and raise costs.
3. I would seek to provide a sound currency to halt rampant price inflation, so health care costs take up a smaller percentage of household income.
4. I call for the state legislatures to remove state mandates that add 15-40% to Pennsylvania's health care premiums, and to pursuit tort reform to reduce the costs of defensive medicine.
5. I would introduce a bill to suspend the obligation of individuals suffering from terminal illness or cancer to continue paying the Social Security tax on their income.
6. I would introduce a bill to reduce federal income taxes dollar-for-dollar by amounts spent out-of-pocket by parents for their children with terminal illnesses, major disabilities or cancer.
7. I have pointed out the dangers of state restrictions - via licensing and restricted seats in the medical school system - artificially restricting the supply of doctors just when the baby boomer explosion will need them the most.
8. Supporters of mine have also sent in great ideas such as Health Care Sharing Ministries that voluntarily pool risk.
I have responded to Democrat Nancy Pelosi's claim - and the Republican incumbent's assumptions - that Congress has "essentially unlimited" power over our health care by dispelling the complete myths about the Commerce Clause in the Constitution in "To Nancy Pelosi On Health Care - Are YOU Serious?"
I have laid out the moral and constitutional position that health care is NOT a right. I have pointed out that the health care's bill proposed changes in labor laws will devastate the poor, the very people that the bill is supposedly there to assist.
I have promised that I will only accept the median household income for my salary, and will donate the remainder to local non-profit hospitals. I have pledged I will not enroll in the elite congressional health care plan, as who can trust someone who legislates on another's health care but is not subject to the legislation themselves?
I have presented the American people with the choice they SHOULD have "Guns or Health Care?" as most people do not understand the insane cost of a military that costs more than the rest of the planet COMBINED.
I have emailed the White House in this letter, protesting that:
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first steal from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." - Adrian Rodgers
All of the above, of course, does minimal good as I am not elected yet, but I am doing my best to represent my supporters and defend my campaign's principles. However, I want to point out the next line of defense I would pursue once the health care tax is signed into "law" - state nullification.
We must keep in mind at all times that the states created the federal government, and not vice versa. At the time the Constitution was passed to replace the Articles of Confederation, it was hotly contested that the Constitution would lead to a vast expansion of federal powers and usurping of the peoples' and states' rights. Much of this public debate was held in newspapers, taverns, and town halls for years before the Constitution was ratified in 1787, and some was later published in "The Federalist Papers." Contrary to today's Gestapo-like Congress, the American people are given very little say to debate with their exalted representatives, which my "Our Open Office" plan will solve. In fact, we are extremely lucky if the oligarchs even deign to just READ the bills before voting on them, like my incumbent opponent has failed to do.
However, although seldom exercised, the states have the unquestionable right and power to strike down legislation that is unconstitutional by nullifying the act. Thomas Jefferson, the same fellow who penned "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence, also authored the Kentucky Resolution of 1798 and assisted James Madison with the Virginia Resolution of 1798. The text of these are below in their entirety (about 5 minutes to read each), I've done my best to highlight key points.
For the restoration of the constitutional Republic that has fallen prey to the lawless rogues that walk the halls of Congress,
So that freedom shall not perish from this earth,
I faithfully remain yours,
Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
"In questions of powers, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution." - Thomas Jefferson, from the Virginia Resolution of 1798by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
(libertarian)
Friday, January 8, 2010
"It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - C.S. Lewis
Last month both the House and Senate passed two very dissimilar bills with the same purpose - to tax the American people around $900 billion more, and intervene government bureaucrats into the private lives of each man, woman, and child.
As I painstakingly laid out in my health care plank last summer, its unintended consequences will worsen the quality of care and affordability of health care. I believe the TRUE issue at stake is affordability and cost - if an MRI cost $200 instead of $3,000, it would be a lot less imperative to suggest drastic changes like socialized medicine. The TRUE root cause is government-sponsored insurance cartels and quality-depleting, cost-increasing legislation such as the HMO Act of 1973. After all, President Nixon was told "all the incentives [of HMOs] are toward less medical care, because the less care they give them, the more money they make and all the incentives run the right way."
I have solutions for lower costs, higher quality, and more features, both in the plank and in this interview on Radio Free Market.
1. I would introduce tax relief legislation to allow individuals and families to reduce their federal income tax nearly dollar-for-dollar by the amounts they spend out-of-pocket on private health care premiums.
2. I would seek to remove the insurance state portability barriers that Congress has erected to protect the insurance cartels and raise costs.
3. I would seek to provide a sound currency to halt rampant price inflation, so health care costs take up a smaller percentage of household income.
4. I call for the state legislatures to remove state mandates that add 15-40% to Pennsylvania's health care premiums, and to pursuit tort reform to reduce the costs of defensive medicine.
5. I would introduce a bill to suspend the obligation of individuals suffering from terminal illness or cancer to continue paying the Social Security tax on their income.
6. I would introduce a bill to reduce federal income taxes dollar-for-dollar by amounts spent out-of-pocket by parents for their children with terminal illnesses, major disabilities or cancer.
7. I have pointed out the dangers of state restrictions - via licensing and restricted seats in the medical school system - artificially restricting the supply of doctors just when the baby boomer explosion will need them the most.
8. Supporters of mine have also sent in great ideas such as Health Care Sharing Ministries that voluntarily pool risk.
I have responded to Democrat Nancy Pelosi's claim - and the Republican incumbent's assumptions - that Congress has "essentially unlimited" power over our health care by dispelling the complete myths about the Commerce Clause in the Constitution in "To Nancy Pelosi On Health Care - Are YOU Serious?"
I have laid out the moral and constitutional position that health care is NOT a right. I have pointed out that the health care's bill proposed changes in labor laws will devastate the poor, the very people that the bill is supposedly there to assist.
I have promised that I will only accept the median household income for my salary, and will donate the remainder to local non-profit hospitals. I have pledged I will not enroll in the elite congressional health care plan, as who can trust someone who legislates on another's health care but is not subject to the legislation themselves?
I have presented the American people with the choice they SHOULD have "Guns or Health Care?" as most people do not understand the insane cost of a military that costs more than the rest of the planet COMBINED.
I have emailed the White House in this letter, protesting that:
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first steal from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." - Adrian Rodgers
All of the above, of course, does minimal good as I am not elected yet, but I am doing my best to represent my supporters and defend my campaign's principles. However, I want to point out the next line of defense I would pursue once the health care tax is signed into "law" - state nullification.
We must keep in mind at all times that the states created the federal government, and not vice versa. At the time the Constitution was passed to replace the Articles of Confederation, it was hotly contested that the Constitution would lead to a vast expansion of federal powers and usurping of the peoples' and states' rights. Much of this public debate was held in newspapers, taverns, and town halls for years before the Constitution was ratified in 1787, and some was later published in "The Federalist Papers." Contrary to today's Gestapo-like Congress, the American people are given very little say to debate with their exalted representatives, which my "Our Open Office" plan will solve. In fact, we are extremely lucky if the oligarchs even deign to just READ the bills before voting on them, like my incumbent opponent has failed to do.
However, although seldom exercised, the states have the unquestionable right and power to strike down legislation that is unconstitutional by nullifying the act. Thomas Jefferson, the same fellow who penned "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence, also authored the Kentucky Resolution of 1798 and assisted James Madison with the Virginia Resolution of 1798. The text of these are below in their entirety (about 5 minutes to read each), I've done my best to highlight key points.
For the restoration of the constitutional Republic that has fallen prey to the lawless rogues that walk the halls of Congress,
So that freedom shall not perish from this earth,
I faithfully remain yours,
Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution