Dems’ Government Takeover of Healthcare Knows No Bounds

February 8, 2012

By Trampling On Religious Liberty, Dems’ Government Healthcare Takeover Now Controls What Americans Believe In Addition to What We Buy and Who Has to Buy it

The Obama administration’s decision to trample over the religious liberty of Catholic charities is a frightening sign of how far Democrats will go to impose their government takeover of healthcare. In a country founded on religious liberty, Democrats have now done the unthinkable.
This use of the government healthcare takeover to decide what is an acceptable practice for a religious faith comes as Democrats continue to defend an individual healthcare mandate that seeks to control what Americans can buy.
Moreover, Democrats’ use of healthcare “waivers” shows they won’t just try to control what Americans believe and buy, but also who wins and who loses.

The Obama administration’s decision to trample over the religious liberty of Catholic charities is a frightening sign of how far Democrats will go to impose their government takeover of healthcare. In a country founded on religious liberty, Democrats have now done the unthinkable:

NEW OBAMA DECISION WOULD FORCE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS TO SUBSIDIZE CONTRACEPTION IN OPPOSITION OF THEIR BELIEVERS, OR DROP INSURANCE AND PAY A FINE: “Yet Casillas was dismayed when the Obama administration recently ruled that religious institutions had to follow the same rules as other employers and offer free contraception as part of health insurance coverage. The idea that the government would force Catholic hospitals to subsidize birth control – or, to avoid the mandate, drop health insurance for their employees – appalled him.” (Stephanie Simon, “Obama Risks Catholic Vote With Birth-Control Mandate,” Reuters, 2/7/2012)

AMERICA “IS BEING EXPOSED TO THE RAW POLITICAL CONTROL THAT IS AT THE CORE OF THE OBAMA HEALTH-CARE PLAN”: “The political furor over President Obama’s birth-control mandate continues to grow, even among those for whom contraception poses no moral qualms, and one needn’t be a theologian to understand why. The country is being exposed to the raw political control that is the core of the Obama health-care plan, and Americans are seeing clearly for the first time how this will violate pluralism and liberty.” (Editorial, “ObamaCare’s Great Awakening,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/8/2012)

IS THIS POLTICAL PAYBACK FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD AND THE DEMOCRATS’ ACTIVIST BASE?: “In late January the Health and Human Services Department required almost all insurance plans to cover contraceptive and sterilization methods, including the morning-after pill. The decision came after passionate lobbying by religious groups and liberals from the likes of Planned Parenthood, amid government promises of compromise.

“In the end, Planned Parenthood won. HHS chose to draw the rule’s conscience exceptions for ‘religious employers’ so narrowly that they will not be extended to religious charities, universities, schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and other institutions that oppose contraception as a matter of religious belief.” (Editorial, “ObamaCare’s Great Awakening,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/8/2012)

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS LINING UP BEHIND OBAMACARE’S LATEST EXERCISE IN COERCION: ” ‘Of course it’s not good for the Democrats to go head-to-head against any church, so we certainly don’t intend to do that,’ Reid said at the Capitol on Tuesday. ‘But we had a good discussion in our caucus today and the caucus totally supports the president. I do.'” (Nicholas Ballasy, “Reid: ‘Caucus Totally Supports’ President’s Fight Against Catholic Church,'” The Daily Caller, 2/7/2012)

This use of the government healthcare takeover to decide what is an acceptable practice for a religious faith comes as Democrats continue to defend an individual healthcare mandate that seeks to control what Americans can buy:

SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE ON WHETHER DEMOCRATS OVERSTEPPED POWER BY “REQUIRING THAT ALL AMERICANS BUY HEALTH INSURANCE BY 2014 OR PAY A PENALTY”: “At the heart of the legal battle is whether Congress overstepped its powers by requiring that all Americans buy health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty, a provision known as the individual mandate.” (“Healthcare Law’s Fate Now in Supreme Court’s Hands,” Reuters, 11/14/2011)

BUT OBAMA HHS SECRETARY KATHLEEN SEBELIUS SAYS WHITE HOUSE WILL “KEEP GOING” IF SUPREME COURT DEEMS MANDATE UNCONSTITUTIONAL: “Sebelius said she’s confident the Supreme Court will uphold the mandate, but that there are alternatives if it doesn’t. ‘I think we keep going,’ she said.” (Sam Baker, “Sebelius: ‘We Keep Going’ if Court Strikes Down Mandate to Have Insurance,” The Hill, 1/24/2012)

KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION: 54% SAY SUPREME COURT SHOULD REJECT INSURANCE MANDATE, ONLY 17% WANT TO KEEP IT IN PLACE: (Louise Radonofsky, “Poll: Most Say High Court Should Reject Insurance Mandate,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/27/2012)

Moreover, Democrats’ use of healthcare “waivers” shows they won’t just try to control what Americans believe and buy, but also who wins and who loses:

OBAMA’S HHS GRANTS OVER 1,200 WAIVERS FROM HEALTHCARE LAW:(Sam Baker, “HHS Finalizes 1,200 Waivers Under Healthcare Reform Law,” The Hill, 1/6/2012)

NANCY PELOSI’S DISTRICT THE “HANDS-DOWN WINNER” IN RECEIVING HEALTHCARE LAW WAIVERS: (“Restaurants, Cafes in Pelosi’s District Eat Up Health Care Law Waivers,” FoxNews.com, 5/17/2011)

“LABOR UNIONS PRIMARY RECIPIENTS OF OBAMACARE WAIVERS”: “Labor unions continued to receive the overwhelming majority of waivers from the president’s health care reform law since the Obama administration tightened application rules last summer.” (Paul Conner, “Labor Unions Primary Recipients of ObamaCare Waivers,” The Daily Caller, 1/7/2012)

543,812 UNION LABORERS RECEIVED WAIVERS FROM DEMOCRATS’ GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER, ONLY 69,813 PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYEES ALSO RECEIVED SUCH WAIVERS: “Documents released in a classic Friday afternoon news dump show that labor unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers from President Barack Obama‘s signature legislation since June 17, 2011. By contrast, private employers with a total of 69,813 employees, many of whom work for small businesses, were granted waivers.” (Paul Conner, “Labor Unions Primary Recipients of ObamaCare Waivers,” The Daily Caller, 1/7/2012)