Undoing the unthinkable.

• Author: Staver, Mathew
• Position: Health care reform - Law & Justice

WHEN PRES. Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, he said the sweeping bill was due to "historic leadership" and that it was a testament to the "persistence of the American people." The law certainly is historic but, like many things in history, historic does not mean it will be remembered with favor. The "persistence of the American people" will see to that.

Despite losing all of the statewide races last year in Virginia and New Jersey, the Democratic Party--under the urging of Pres. Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senate majority leader Harry Reid--pressed forward with a health care bill that a majority of citizens rejected. Oust in case they did not get the message, the Dems lost again--in Massachusetts of all places. The seat occupied by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, the dogged trumpeter of universal, single-payer health care, was won by a Republican who opposed the bill.)

The new health care law is the most sweeping expansion of government into the private fives of Americans in our history. Moreover, Congress lacks the constitutional authority to force every person to buy a product and participate in a market in which they choose not to engage. From the very beginning of the debate, one thing has been clear: individuals would be required to purchase health insurance and employers would be required to pay for it. In the end, all Americans will pay. However, the politicians who ignored the voice of the people also will pay a price come Election Day--and beyond.

Health care obviously had to be reformed. Most agree on that point, but the bill forced on the American people was not the kind of "reform" needed. It would have been much wiser to heed other proposals, such as the one put forth by Rep. Dave Camp (R.-Mich.), which included many cost-saving alternatives: allowing individuals to purchase health plans across state lines; creating high-risk pools for those with pre-existing conditions; pooling for small businesses; instituting malpractice reform; promoting healthier lifestyles; incentivizing and expanding the use of health savings accounts; and encouraging and incentivizing various innovative state programs. However, instead of these simple, yet effective, solutions, Congress passed an unconstitutional bill that will cost Americans billions and billions of dollars--for inferior, rationed care, no less--in the decades to come.

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Notwithstanding the broad consensus against this legislation that crosses racial, ethnic, generational, and political lines, the Administration pressed forward. As a result, the Liberty Counsel, a national public interest law firm, flied the first...