Congressman Walberg: "Providing health insurance for children who otherwise can't afford it is an endeavor worthy of the resources and time of the U.S. Congress."
Alright, now I've admitted that Walberg is no strict constructionist, but this is absurd. After spending a decent amount of time flipping through my extremely worn copy of the Constitution, I have been hard pressed to find any evidence that this matter is within the scope of congressional responsibly. For the life of me, I could not find a single line in that beloved federal document granting the Congress any authority whatsoever over providing health insurance for children of families that are too rich for currently available welfare programs.
Regardless, we are all too aware of the tendency our politicians have to cite the grossly abused "general welfare" clause. But Congressman Walberg knows full well that this won't do. Were he to resort to such reasoning, the mooring for his beliefs pertaining to a constitutionally limited federal government would be uprooted faster than he could mumble "Leviathan."
To add insult to injury, he mourned the fact that Congress didn't return to the "original intent" of the bill. Why, Congressman, should they? If they have abandoned the original intent of the Constitution, why not something of much less importance?
In the end, Congressman Walberg was right about one thing: SCHIP is a train wreck. Too bad he didn't see that it was a constitutional train wreck from the get-go.
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Labels: Bannister and Sutherby, Congress, government, health care, Jeremiah Bannister, Michigan, opinion, paleocrat, politics, SCHIP, television, Tim Walberg, TV, welfare