What happened to the choice to choose?? For w/e 4/2/10

There has been a lot of talk in the news the past month or so about President Obama wanting to pass a national healthcare plan. From the start, I was opposed to it because I firmly believe that it is not the federal government's right to force people to do something let alone make us buy a specific product, in this case, healthcare. As I have done more research on the matter in the past few weeks, I didn't think that this would ever be passed because the constitution of the United States doesn't allow for Congress to impose anything other than taxes and from what I have heard on the news or read in the paper, this is not a tax. Unfortunately, it has passed and President Obama signed it into law today, amid states declaring that they will fight for the constitutionally of it.

Part of this healthcare bill also dictates the IRS to be the one who makes sure people pay and enforce the penalty if you choose not to participate. The IRS, I thought, is only responsible to collect taxes, not healthcare payments. I am not the only one who feels this way as the IRS Joint Committee on Taxation states that "The use of liens and seizures otherwise authorized for the collection of taxes does not apply to the collect of this penalty", which basically means we have no authority to enforce anything, however they will intercept your income tax refund to collect the penalty. Sounds like you don't really have a choice, do you? Whatever happened to our freedoms?

I hope that the US Supreme Court, if the battle from the states reaches their doorstep, makes a ruling declaring it unconstitutional. They can not do anything until it is challenge in court and hopefully that is sooner than later. There is a similar government case ( off limits in this class) that took place in 1973, that ruled that people under the Ninth Amendment of the US constitution that the reservation of rights is asserted to the people. In this case of the national healthcare bill, it seems that this takes away the choice, which essentially takes away our rights. I have heard some people say that this is no different than mandatory car insurance, but the facts are that 1) States have the right-This is how Massachusetts has a mandatory state healthcare program and 2) Driving is a choice. If you choose to drive, then you need to insure your vehicle to drive it on the roads. If you don't like it, fine, don't drive and take public transportation.

So as you can see, this will be a highly contested and debated topic for months to come. Our liberties are being infringed upon, and hopefully the courts will make sure that we are not violated.