Florida Healthcare Freedom

Throughout the United States, there has been lot of reaction against the healthcare reform legislation proposed by President Obama, House speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate majority leader Harry Reid. Many citizens have taken action by filing lawsuits against the federal government. On the other hand, many states are proposing legislation that bans certain aspect of Obamacare from becoming law in that particular state. Florida has joined the fight. A bill that is sponsored by state representative Scott Plankon and state senator Carey Baker, the Florida Healthcare Freedom Act has been struck down by activist justices on the Florida Supreme Court against the will of the citizens of Florida. Because healthcare freedom is necessary for a free society, it is important that this act be brought be up and enacted into law.

To start, the Florida Healthcare Freedom act is a bill that is sponsored by State Representative Scott Plankon(R-Longwood, FL) and State senator Carey Baker(R-Eustis, FL). It prohibits anyone from being forced to “participate in any health care system, permit person or employer to purchase lawful health care services directly from health care provider”1 In other words, it nullifies the part of the healthcare reform where it mandates Americans to purchase health insurance. In case you don’t know, nullification is Constitutional under the tenth Amendment. It states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The debate that is going on is whether a state has the right to nullify a law it deems to be unconstitutional. It is a modern day federalism versus anti-federalism debate. In September 2010, the Florida Supreme Court declared the Florida Healthcare Freedom Act unconstitutional and threw it off the ballot for the November 2010 elections. But there is hope, two of the Justices who voted against the bill, Jorge Labarga and James Perry, cannot take themselves off the ballot for elections. In Florida, citizens have the privilege of voting to determine whether the justices on the Florida Supreme Court can stay on the court. They are still appointed by the governor and approved by the state legislator, which is important that Republican Rick Scott, who is conservative on healthcare, is elected governor. If anyone in Florida was able to vote on something to make a difference, it can be the vote to remove Labarga and Perry.

Why is this bill important? This bill is a stand against the actions of an expanding federal government that is trying to impose its agenda on the American people. It seems that the goal of President Obama and liberals in our government is to control every aspect of American life as much as possible. Healthcare reform is not really about healthcare; it is about getting an agenda across and imposing it on the American people. The feds are more concerned about control and power rather than about healthcare. That sums why former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Our government officials are using the economic crisis that we are currently in and using as an opportunity to implement an anti-American agenda. The American people have awakened to realize these acts of tyranny are being imposed on them and they want to do something about it. Tea parties have been organized and rallies such as the 9-12 and 8-28 have occurred. The people have been aroused. In other words, the American people do not want government involved in their lives.

What can we do about? As citizens of Florida, we can help vote out Florida Supreme Court Justices Labarga and Perry. Since it is important to know that the governor appoints those on the court, it is important that the right governor gets elected too. The republican candidate Rick Scott, who once was president of the Columbia/HCA association of hospitals, is the ideal candidate for the job. He is very conservative on the issue of healthcare and opposes the agenda that the federal government is pushing upon us. If you are interested in helping out with the campaign, go to this link: http://citizen2citizen.us/. What I recommend for you do is that you print you 250 of those flyers and distribute them throughout your neighborhood. Put them on the bulletin board of your local library or place them in your church. Do whatever it takes to spread the word. This is a word of mouth campaign. We need a full force in action.

In closing, the importance of having healthcare freedom is of paramount importance. The encroachment of the federal government on our lives is opposite to the principles that originally made our country great. The people have been awakened and it is time that we let our government officials know that we will not have their agenda shoved down our throats. Let us be the generation that will bring socialism and fascism to their deaths!

Footnotes
1.HJR 37, Florida Healthcare Freedom Act. http://www.flhealthcarefreedom.org/readthebill.asp