The American Gospel & Obama-Care

Call me a jingoist, but I believe that America is the greatest nation ever to inhabit the earth. The United States has created more wealth, spread more freedom and improved the human condition more than any other country in history. Notwithstanding the fact that these accomplishments are of near biblical proportion, they are not the result of divine intervention. They are the natural byproduct of a national faith that is rooted in individual liberty. American exceptionalism is directly attributable to the ideals of our nation’s founding documents. The Declaration of Independence is the American Gospel, the definitive moral blueprint of our nation. Man’s natural rights to freedom and liberty, to a government beholden to its people, and to the pursuit of commercial success, represent the founding tenets of our faith. The U.S. Constitution is the ultimate book of laws, created to guarantee these rights to our people.

In the summer of 1787, America’s Founding Fathers took great care to insure the ideals of the American Gospel in the U.S. Constitution. Their greatest concern was an inherent distrust of man’s tyrannical nature. Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution, was created to allay these fears. This crucial section clearly defines the limited powers of Congress. For 220 years, this central theme of the U.S Constitution has served the American people by confirming their rights as citizens.

Obama-Care, with regard to the Constitution, is a complete and abject failure. The individual mandate provision of this massive entitlement program clearly exceeds the limits of congressional authority. This mandate grants the federal government the power to coerce American citizens into purchasing a product (health insurance) or to impose a fine on those who do not. The Obama White House claims that this mandate is a necessary provision because it funds a greater good – that of national healthcare. It further claims that this act is justified under the commerce clause of article 1, section 8 of the Constitution.

The commerce clause reads as follows: “The Congress shall have power to… regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.” Hitherto, the interstate commerce clause has mainly been utilized to justify federal regulations on shipping and on trade, but never to force an individual into a commercial transaction. Commerce, by definition, is a transaction (sale or purchase) that has the objective of supplying a commodity (good or service). It is a wild stretch to interpret this clause as a justification of Congressional power to compel Americans into purchasing an arbitrary good or service. In fact, this interpretation of the commerce clause would effectively give the federal government limitless power under the Constitution. Freedom of commerce, the nucleus of American prosperity, would cease to be a precept of our faith. The Supreme Court will ultimately judge whether or not this misbegotten mandate is permissible under Constitutional law.

Human nature dictates that those who control the money, by default, control the people. Commercial activity, in the hands of the people, has enabled America to prosper. The people’s rights to commerce, religion and speech are inherent in the American Gospel. The limited power of our federal government is a core component of our faith. By implementing Obama-Care and its individual mandate, President Obama and Congress are attempting to violate the basic tenets of Americanism. If we allow our government unlimited power in the guise of national healthcare, America will lose it soul. We will need to abandon our national faith, and pray for divine intervention. Because a Supreme Court decision on this macabre issue will likely be several years in the making, the American people must fight for their faith, and elect representatives who will act to repeal this blasphemy. To borrow the words of another great faith, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Election Day is coming. All that is necessary for tyranny to thrive is for people of good conscience to remain silent.