Health Care

I've been talking to a lot of people about the Supreme Court's Health Care ruling and thinking carefully in an effort to keep my foot out of my mouth in this post. There are a couple of things that I think might help people in thinking about this issue that have flown under the radar.

1. Whoever has the gold, makes the rules. We laugh about it, but it is true, the people who pay for something decide how to handle it, and since FDR's New Deal we have relied more and more on the government to take care of our social issues. When the government is responsible for all those things and we demand that the government pay for our education, our doctors, our medicine, and our house, and sometimes our food, then we should not be surprised when they tell us that we have to buy health insurance. I don't think they should make us buy health insurance, but I also don't think the government should pay for everything else either.
2. The Supreme Court is not meant to bite the bullet and clean up the mess that our representatives make. We can rail on Chief Justice Roberts all we want but it was the representatives we elected who did not stop the Health Care bill, and that is what we pay them to do. The Supreme Court is already a highly politicized institution, anyone who watched the confirmation hearings for Justices Roberts, Alito, or Kagan remember how nasty they were. A lot of that was based around their opinions on Roe v. Wade, which supercharged the court and has become a litmus test for appointments on both sides. Also, it might help to remember the court packing plan of FDR. The Supreme Court blocked much of what FDR proposed, and in response,  the president planned to rearrange much of the Judicial branch to remove the opposition to his proposals and announced it to the nation in one of his fireside chats. This was avoided when several Justices retired or switched positions on the Supreme Court and thus made it unnecessary, but the threat was very real, and it is possible that Chief Justice Roberts was afraid of beginning a war with the executive or legislative branches that could severely hurt the Court and the nation. 
3. If you don't like what congress is doing, then do your job. It is our duty as citizens to make informed decisions on election day. Election day is coming up, get informed. its that simple. 

The main point I'm trying to make here is that what happens in the hallowed halls of our government is a direct reflection of the society that puts people there. There will always be people willing to tell us what to do if we let them, and if we demand that they be our parents, they will eventually treat us like children. Personal responsibility, diligence, and loyalty to those around us will go a lot farther toward fixing our country than voting for libertarian candidates. A representative democracy places most of the power with the people on the assumption that they will hold onto it and use it responsibly, and as long as the people do then the system works less poorly than any other. Once the people give up responsibility, the government has to exercise it for them, and we start on the long road to oligarchy or anarchy.
A friend of mine, William Schwennson wrote an excellent article on the recent EU summit and the Supreme Court ruling. He has read the 193 page Supreme Court opinion and has some good insights into what it means. You can find it here.
On a final note, please keep the family of Lt. Col. Roy Lin Tisdale in your prayers. He left a wife and several children including a young son. However bad things seem to be going for us, it helps to remember "At least we aren't being shot at".
Semper Fi.