1501 is done

Judge Henry Hudson
(by R.P.Edwards)

My, oh my
Oh, can it be
A federal judge
Agrees…with me?
To put a stop
To federal lust
To stay the beast
That kills…our trust?
But wait…he’s one
We must have more
For those who wolf
Will battle…sure
But today, at least
We pause, to praise
And hope to win
In coming…days

The mighty Achilles; fallen by a well placed arrow…to the heel.  Today a federal Judge by the name of Henry Hudson may have struck the death blow to the Monstrosity known as the Healthcare Bill.  Or, if not a death blow, at least a slowing wound to greatly hinder…the unwieldy and threatening giant.

No, I didn’t read the whole ruling.  But I did go to it directly to glean some morsels.

From Pg 1.
In the case, the Commonwealth of Virginia (the “Commonwealth”) through its Attorney General, challenges the constitutionality of the pivotal enforcement mechanism of the health care scheme adopted by Congress in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or “the Act”),… At issue is section 1501 of the Act, commonly known as the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision (“the Provision”). The Minimum Essential Coverage Provision requires that every United States citizen, other than those falling within specified exceptions, maintain a minimum level of health insurance coverage for each month beginning in 2014.  Failure to comply will result in a penalty included with the taxpayer’s annual return.  As enacted, Section 1501, is administered and enforced as a part of the Internal Revenue Code.

From Pg 38, 39
On careful review, this Court must conclude that Section 1501of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act--specifically the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision--exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power…the Court’s next task is to determine whether this section is severable from the balance of the enactment.  Predictably, the Secretary counsels severability, and the Commonwealth urges wholesale invalidation. The Commonwealth’s position flows in part from the Secretary’s frequent contention that section 1501 is the linchpin for the entire health care regimen underlying the ACA. However, the bill embraces far more than healthcare reform. It is laden with provisions and riders patently extraneous to health care--over 400…  The final element of the analysis is difficult to apply in this case given the haste with which the final version of the 2,700 page bill was rushed to the floor for a Christmas Eve vote.

Some thoughts:  I like the use of the word “scheme” in the first paragraph.  I suppose it’s an innocuous oft used add-on, but to us non-legal folks, it carries a special meaning.  Next, after gently declaring that this compulsory--pick your pocket--provision is…unconstitutional, the good judge alludes to the fact that there is SO MUCH MORE in the bill than just health care (400 plus additional items), and, as an added delight, the mention of the rush to judgment; as in a Christmas Eve vote on a 2,700 pg bill that could not have been read and digested by the "votees".  Well done, Judge Hudson.  Even if you are eventually “overruled,” (because, c’mon, the scales of justice are too often tipped), at least, on this day, you have…our thanks.

1501
(by R.P.Edwards)

Fifteen O one
Fifteen O one
Because of thee
The death knell…rung
A peal of hope
The monster’s scream
A chorus rises
The people’s…dream
And when the giant
Fills the earth
Perhaps a better
Comes to birth
But now
Beginning
The course, begun
It starts with thee
Fifteen…O one

Here’s a link to the ruling.   The Ruling

****

Don't Touch!

Mama said
(by R.P.Edwards)

“Unintended consequences”
Said the little boy
Whose finger bore a bandage, red
Whose mood was far from joy
“The whirring fan seemed so much fun
Though mama said, “Don’t touch!”
 So now I’ve learned, that Mamas know
And kids? Well, not so much”

It was one of those early memories.  One of those rare pre-school events that can be recalled, O these many decades later.  As I remember it, there was this fan, see.  Not an out of reach ceiling fan, mind you, but one on kid level; in the touching zone.  And brother, I wanted to touch it!  And why not?  It was big; it had large, shiny whirring blades and, as if giving an open invitation to the small ‘uns, there was plenty of room in the protective guard (pre reg days).  Anyway, Mama, knowing the evil nature of children, strictly warned me to NOT touch the fan.  So, naturally, when she left the room…I stuck my hand into the blur.  “Mommy!” I cried, “I did it!”  As a result, I had a nasty cut on my finger, and one of the fan blades was bent.  This, dear reader, is my earliest recollection of ‘unintended consequences.’  But, with a lifetime of ‘recalls’ I can tell you this…I didn’t learn the lesson very well.

Heard a little bit about recent reports concerning Healthcare Bill projections.  Seems that the rosy picture painted by our leaders…was just that, a picture. Turns out in reality this monster legislation will be a money pit, and a mausoleum .  Yes, with the millions of baby boomers (present!) getting ready to jump on the Medicare bandwagon, it seems this group will indeed find less ‘Medi’ and ‘Care,’ not to mention the penalties the younger folk will have to endure and, incredibly, the millions who will still be out of the loop. Yes, a classic case of unintended consequences.  But, to give them credit…the fan looked so pretty.

That’s what I think.  How about you? Click comments below…and say.

The Riddle's answer, at last

Curiouser and Curiouser
(by R.P.Edwards)

“We’re all mad here,”
So says the cat
And voting Reps
Are proof of that
They chase the rabbit
Down the hole
And tethered to
We all…must go
And so, through them
We drink the drink
Our brains, our wills
Our rights…do shrink
Yet they eat cake
Their heads…to grow
And race about
Like the dodo
Oh wondrous is this land of they
Where hatters, mad
And dormouse play
Yet…when we wake
In autumn’s tread
Let’s join the queen
And off…their head

And so…it passes.  The healthcare bill.  The ominous, odorous, feared, revered, lauded and loaded, hopeful and hopeless; the president’s much championed--forsaking all others--healthcare bill…passes.  Madness.

I must admit, I had more important things to do on the day of its birth (i.e. spending time with like-minded worshipers), but I did attend to the political theater…for just a bit.  I found most interesting the lock-armed walk of legislators comparing themselves to civil righters long decades ago; as if this budget breaker and society enslaver in any way compares to the ending of bigoted oppression. Madness.  

I also found interesting the bending of the unbendable pro-lifers…all for the unwritten promise of the most anti-life president ever.  Truly, a blind giving of faith to those whose “faith” has no room for the most innocent of all.  Madness.

And, I think of the number crunchers.  The true believers that government involvement will somehow produce what it has never produced before…  fiscal responsibility.  Indeed, an amazing leap considering the track record.  Again…madness.

And so, since, on so many levels this is indeed “March Madness,” I must conclude that we are in Wonderland.  And, in that fanciful place created by Lewis Carroll, there is a Mad Hatter with a, heretofore, unanswered riddle.  Thus,  “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”  Now we, at long last, know the answer:  Because this wretched legislation…is for the birds.

That’s what I think.  How about you?  Click comments below…and say.