U.S. Representative Ed Royce

Washington, Jun 29, 2012 - "The Court regards its strained statutory interpretation as judicial modesty. It is not. It amounts instead to a vast judicial overreaching. It creates a debilitated, inoperable version of health-care regulation that Congress did not enact and the public does not expect."

While there will be much debate about yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, the above quote from the dissenting Justices encapsulates the issue perfectly. This "vast judicial overreach" will have a profound impact on both our society and our economy.

First, the previous check on government’s ability to control the lives of Americans has been greatly eroded. If it’s the will of the majority, government now has virtually limitless power. As the dissenting opinion also notes:

"If Congress can reach out and command even those furthest removed from an interstate market to participate in the market, then the Commerce Clause becomes a font of unlimited power, or in Hamilton’s words, "the hideous monster whose devouring jaws . . . spare neither sex nor age, nor high nor low, nor sacred nor profane."

The impact of this ruling on our economy will also be considerable. Let’s remember what this law really does:

It creates a massive new entitlement program. This law is far more costly than previously estimated. The Congressional Budget Office now says the cost will be $1.76 trillion over the next 10 years. At $15 trillion, our national debt is now larger than the size of our entire economy. Is it any wonder why we lost our AAA credit rating?

It increases rather than decreases healthcare costs. According to Kaiser Family Foundation, healthcare costs have increased $2,200 per household since passage of the bill. Those numbers will continue to go up as the law is implemented.

It raids Medicare. This law was paid for in part by raiding Medicare to the tune of $500 billion. We need to be working to make Medicare solvent, not raiding the fund to create new entitlement programs.

Taxes will go up. There are more than 20 taxes on businesses and individuals in this law, including a tax on homeowners that wish to sell their house. Despite what the President has said repeatedly, the "penalty" for non-compliance of Obamacare is also a tax. Forgotten by many was a provision in the law for 17,000 new IRS agents that will be deployed to ensure every American without insurance pays this tax.

Businesses will be hurt. Businesses are facing an enormous amount of uncertainty largely because of our massive debt burden. Add to it a mandate from Washington and don’t be surprised if business confidence drops and hiring slows even further. I regularly talk to businesses in California that say this mandate is the number one reason they are not hiring.

Luckily we have an opportunity with the upcoming elections. Now is the time to reverse course and prevent the devastating economic and societal impact of this terrible law and yesterday’s judicial overreach. The Republican controlled House is poised to repeal the law and replace it with actual solutions that reduce healthcare costs without bankrupting our nation. Unfortunately, simple math shows that we cannot get it through the Senate and the President would surely veto it.

Do you want to send a message to the Supreme Court and the President? Do you want to send a message to future generations about what it means to be American? Create a seismic shift in Washington. Send President Obama and Leader Reid on their way.

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