Rally to Repeal Obamacare

This is the text of the talk given at Christopher Columbus Park, Boston, as requested by a number of attendees. The rally was sponsored by the Greater Boston Tea Party and included presentations by Jeff Katz, then of WXKS 1200AM Boston, Aaron Goldstein, and Mark Knowlton.

Full video available at http://greaterbostonteaparty.com/?p=1112#comments AND on the "Videos of Talks" page on this site.
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Article 6, 2nd Clause, of the US Constitution, excerpted: “This Constitution... shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges... shall be bound thereby...”

Definition: To Pervert: To turn away from the right course; to mis-apply; to lead into false judgment.

We stand here today because of PERVERSION: perversion of meaning, perversion of intent, perversion of the Constitution, and perversion of our Republic meant to be dedicated to Individual Freedom AND Individual Responsibility. What, specifically, were the perversions at work in the Supreme Court/Obamacare decision of June 28th?

Perversion 1: The mis-use of our Constitution – a document written to guarantee our individual freedom and ensure limited government – to permit that government to reach into the most personal areas of our lives AT WILL.
Perversion 2: The “monstrous lie” that the Federal government, in the persons of the Nine Justices of the Supreme Court, is considered to be the only proper determinant of the extent of the powers GRANTED to that government. This is NOWHERE in the Constitution; it was intended that EACH branch of government INCLUDING THE SOVEREIGN STATES be able to make that determination.
Perversion 3: That of those Nine, there exists a subset of Oath-breakers, who have proven repeatedly that they have NO understanding OF, and nothing but contempt FOR, the Founding Principles of our Constitutional Republic.
Perversion 4: Of the meaning of words used in common parlance; the acceptance of blatant lying, obfuscating evasions, and hypocritical double-speaking on the part of our so-called “representatives,” and of politicians in general.
Perversion 5: The widespread denigration of our Founding Principles, and the concomitant substitution of un-American and anti-American principles that subvert both our freedoms and our responsibilities as humans.
Perversion 6: The endemic lack of understanding of those same Founding Principles by the populace – which was planned, is purposeful, and was specifically designed to undermine those Principles.

The Court ruled on only two points in the entire 2,700-page bill. It overturned the Medicaid expansion was 7-2, yet it managed to uphold the individual mandate 5-4 by proclaiming to be a tax, what the law stated was a penalty – despite the repeated statements by Congress and the Executive Branch that it was a penalty, NOT a tax. The majority decision on this second issue, as rendered, is a disingenuous, convoluted piece of anti-Constitution, anti-American nonsense.

During the oral arguments, one Justice took particular exception to and made a strong case AGAINST calling the “penalty” a “tax” – that was Justice Roberts. In a spectacular reversal, in the written decision he specifically calls that same penalty a “tax,” and bases the entire premise of the Constitutionality of the bill on that tax. Yet, even stipulating his terminology is correct, the bill is utterly unConstitutional.

How so?

If it is not, in fact, a TAX, then the bill is unConstitutional for reasons even the majority opinion notes – the Federal government DOES NOT HAVE THE POWER to order people to buy insurance. The much-misunderstood “Commerce Clause” is cited here, and in this one assertion, they are correct.

If it is in fact a TAX, then the bill is unConstitutional for multiple reasons.

The bill passed did NOT originate in the House, but the Senate, and both Houses then used underhanded tactics such as “sweetheart deals”, “reconciliation,” and “deemed passage” to ram it through on Christmas Eve 2009. ALL bills dealing with taxation must originate in the House. Additionally, tactics such as “deemed passage” may NOT, by House rules, be used in ANY bill dealing with taxation. Therefore, the bill was not legally passed and is unConstitutional.
There are, in fact, TWENTY-ONE separate tax increases embedded in the bill; ALL fall under the limitations just noted for taxation bills – again, the bill was NOT legally passed and is unConstitutional.
Additionally, and over-riding ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS in this matter – as James Madison himself explained in the last four paragraphs of Federalist #41, our Constitution allows Congress the power “to lay and collect taxes” ONLY ON THE ITEMS IN ARTICLE 1, SECTION 8, CLAUSES 3 – 16. The Founders specifically LIMIT the purposes for which the Federal government can “lay and collect taxes,” and the majority opinion itself declares that this bill does not pass muster under the Commerce Clause (A1-§8-Cl3) – leaving NO Constitutional justification for this bill AT ALL, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM – no matter HOW many deluded attorneys in black robes declare otherwise. End of story.

In the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force... the government created by [the Constitution] was NOT made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself... each party has an EQUAL RIGHT TO JUDGE FOR ITSELF... infractions... and the mode... of redress.”

The Constitution – which implements the Principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence – is the Fundamental Law of our land, and is superior to the Federal government it creates.

This perversion of the Constitution and of our Founding Principles MUST NOT and WILL NOT stand – but we have a long fight ahead to fully restore our Constitutional Republic.

In the short term we must let the Justices and ALL our legislators know that the decision on this abominable bill was a dereliction of all their SWORN oaths to uphold the Constitution and that we WILL hold them accountable.
We must elect Representatives and Senators who will repeal this bill in its entirety and dismantle everything implemented to date.
We must elect a new President who will SIGN that repeal.
Those same Representatives and Senators must also IMPEACH and REMOVE ALL Federal judges who will not uphold the Constitution as it was originally designed, meant, and intended.
The States must immediately move to NULLIFY Obamacare – their officials also take oaths to support the Federal Constitution and that oath REQUIRES them to nullify.
We must also DISABUSE OURSELVES of any notion that the five Justices are “basically decent people with different opinions;” they are NOT. They are “Dolores Umbridges” determined to reduce us – individuals and states – to abject slavery under Federal control.

For the long-term, we must remember that in all of history, this is the ONLY country EVER founded on the principle that power is sovereign in the PEOPLE. We, the People, have Rights given by our Creator. We retain sovereignty, and through the Constitution WE delegate to the Federal government certain duties. Powers not delegated are usurpations; null and void. We are not slaves to the Federal government; IT is subordinate to US. We have allowed it to grow wild and uncontrolled over the last hundred-plus years, and we must re-establish our rightful control. We must elect ONLY those who also understand and will enforce Constitutional limits. We must keep working, and NOT allow ourselves to give up hope that our Republic can be and will be restored.

DEMAND clarity and accurately espoused principles from candidates; evasion, double-speak, and the twisting of meanings must NEVER be tolerated from ANY candidate, regardless of party. We must refuse to respect, watch, listen to, or support “news” sources that twist context to the shape they want. Insist on open and full discussion of principles. We must call rational NON-lawyers to the Federal bench, including the Supreme Court. Legal decisions based solely on preceding case law must be banished; decisions on Constitutionality must be based on the Constitution, the Federalist papers, and the proceedings of the state ratification conventions; precedent may guide only where those precedents deepen our understanding of the Constitution – NOT throw it out wholesale.

This fight for the heart and soul of our Republic will take the lifetime of each and every person here today. If YOU wish to learn more about Constitutional limitations on the Federal government, there are online resources and an email list for my study group.