[1]Right From the Start
This article is not about the content of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) or even the efficacy of government supervised universal healthcare. It is about the process used by President Barack Obama and his supporters in Congress to affect the adoption of legislation that has fundamentally disrupted and changed the best healthcare system in the world. This is an article about the fundamentals of democratic governance and the preservation of power in the electorate – not the government.
One of the fundamental principles of law in America is that a contract obtained by fraud is voidable – that is, the injured party may cancel the contract. Most courts utilize a five-fold test for determining such fraud:
- There has been a misrepresentation of a material fact.
- That such misrepresentation was made knowingly
- That the purpose of such misrepresentation was to deceive another to change his or her position
- That the other person justifiably relied on the misrepresentation.
- The other person was injured as a result.
Each and every element of fraud is present in the presentation and passage of Obamacare. The misrepresentation of material facts include:
- Statements by Mr. Obama that the cost of health insurance premiums for the average family will drop by $2,500 annually
- Statements by Mr. Obama that “if you like your doctors, you can keep your doctors” and if you like your insurance plan you can keep your insurance plan, period.”
- Statements by Mr. Obama and members of his administration that those opposed to abortion on demand would not be required to pay for abortions for others.
- Statements by Mr. Obama and members of his administration that no taxes would be increased.
A variety of memoranda, e-mails and recordings have now detailed that Mr. Obama and his administration knew each of these statements were false and made knowingly.
The recent disclosure of repeated comments by Jonathan Gruber, a consultant to Mr. Obama and the Administration from the inception of the planning for Obamacare and who participated at length in the formulation and drafting of Obamacare, that:
“If you have a law that makes explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it wouldn’t have passed. . . “the lack of transparency is a huge political advantage and, basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever. But basically that was really critical to getting the thing to pass.”
Media reports, including video tapes, make it clear that Mr. Gruber repeated these comments in a variety of different forums and that the “lack of transparency” on a variety of Obamacare issues was necessary to fool Congress and the American public. And Congress – well, I should say, the Democrats in Congress since not a single Republican voted for Obamacare – relied exclusively on these statements. I say they relied exclusively on these statements because not a single person voting for Obamacare read or understood what was in the Affordable Care Act.
And literally millions of American citizens were injured. Over 5 million lost their insurance plans. An October 17, 2014 report in the Daily Caller noted the declining number of physicians available to Obamacare participants by noting:
“The number of physicians nationwide that are declining to accept health plans from Obamacare exchanges is growing, according to a study from the American Action Forum.
“As of May 2014, over 214,000 doctors wouldn’t participate in Obamacare plans, and that number may be growing, according to the AAF, a free-market think tank in Washington. While some Obamacare kinks have been worked out over the past year, exchange plans remain as unfriendly to doctors as ever.”
Obamacare has proven to be the most massive fraud perpetrated in the history of America. Not even the collective frauds of all of the Wall Street charlatans (e.g. Bernie Madoff, Joe Nacchio, Sam Israel, Bernie Ebbers, etc.) came anywhere close to impacting seventeen percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Mr. Obama stands alone, high above all the others combined, in bilking the American public.
Mr. Obama fails to understand that the end DOES NOT justify the means. We are a nation of laws and we can only be that so long as the laws are not only enforced impartially, but adopted without fraud or duress.
In the case of contractual fraud, the injured party may void the contract and be returned to his status immediately prior to the perpetration of the fraud. The same should be true here. The Affordable Care Act should be voided and the American public returned to position immediately prior to its adoption. But that is not far enough. Now that many of the misrepresentations of fact are known, the Affordable Care Act should be resubmitted in its entirety to the vote of Congress. Should is pass the argument should be over. If it should fail as it surely will, the Congress should immediately take up alternative plans in a fashion that ensures there will be open debate, opportunity for amendments and sufficient time to ensure that the members of Congress voting can actually read its provisions.
And while we cannot confine Mr. Obama to prison like the other great frauds, we can ask him to leave.
Please, Mr. Obama, leave – and take Joe with you.