Why Nebraska, Louisiana, and the unions will destroy health care reform

Why Nebraska, Louisiana, and the unions will destroy health care reform

Posted on January 15th, 2010 by Mike McGowan

Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution

Notice the end of Section 1 of the 14th?

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States … nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This provision, commonly called the Equal Protections Clause, was the cornerstone of the movement to put an end to the atrocious practice of slavery in the United States.

Let us give the lawyers a chance to tell us what it means:

Equality .–If due process is to be secured, the laws must operate alike upon all and not subject the individual to the arbitrary exercise of governmental power unrestrained by established principles of private rights and distributive justice.

findlaw.com

This section of the 14th Amendment was what allowed the Federal Government to prevent the states from passing laws like the nefarious poll tax, laws which prohibited blacks from learning how to read, etc. It essentially says that the government cannot break the US population up into groups then act to punish one group, nor help another. We’re all equal, as citizens, in this country.

So when you see the bribes being made to get health care passed, the sweet heart deals for Nebraska, Louisiana, and the unions, ask yourself this: When did I lose my US citizenship and the equal protections afforded me by the title?

Why does some union shlub, making $80 an hour with an awesome benefits package, get out of paying the taxes from the health care reform bill, but someone who is in the lower-middle class, living paycheck to paycheck in rural Alabama, not get an exemption?

This is going to go to the Supreme Court. These deals will sink the health care reform bill.

Hooray!