by Mark Rhoads
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said last Wednesday that Congress is given the constitutional authority to mandate that individuals buy health insurance in "probably the same place” that states get the power to mandate that people purchase auto insurance. Every Member of Congress who voted for the socialist health insurance scheme is being asked by many groups where in the world do they think they get the authority to mandate that young and healthy people must buy an insurance product that they may not need or want. The latest stupid talking point the guilty Members of Congress use to answer is that states mandate automobile liability insurance; as if that authority were found in the Constitution; which it is not.
First, states only mandate auto liability insurance on people who have been given the privilege of a state-issued driver's license; and who drive cars on state highways' in case they injure another person or damage another car so that there will be money to compensate the injured party. States DO NOT have the right to mandate ordinary citizens who do not have a driver's license, own, lease, or rent a car, or do not drive on a state highway or public street to purchase any auto insurance policy. Auto liability insurance is not a mandate on non-drivers for the simple common-sense reason that a pedestrian or bike rider at minimum speed is far less likely to cause serious injury to another person than a car that weighs 3,000 pounds and travels more than 60 MPH.
For example, Illinois cannot mandate auto insurance on a person who only lives in Illinois but who does not operate a motor vehicle or on someone who lives in another state and does not drive in Illinois. But the health scheme just past by Congress DOES MANDATE that everyone must buy insurance just for living and breathing in America whether they ever go to a doctor or not. That authority is NOT in the Constitution and is a form of legal thievery by the government. This is one example of why socialism at its core is corrupt, immoral, and dishonest because it endorses the idea (not found in the Constitution) that government has the right to steal from people just because they are there and the government wants the money. That is not general taxation for the common good, it is theft for a narrow purpose to only benefit a government that promised too much it cannot deliver or pay for.
