HEALTH: Send money back with a note

When Dr. Fenwick I went to Boise to testify in favor of Free Market Health Care and against Idaho adopting the Federally Mandated Health Care Exchanges, one of the arguments we made was that accepting the $22 million from D.C. to set up the exchange would weaken our case against the individual mandate. It seems that is indeed true.

Earlier this week during the SCOTUS hearing on the separability of the individual mandate, Chief Justice Roberts said:

“Well, why isn’t that a consequence of how willing they (states) have been since the New Deal to take the federal government’s money? And it seems to me that they have compromised their status as independent sovereigns because they are so dependent on what the federal government has done, they should not be surprised that the federal government having attached the … they tied the strings, they shouldn’t be surprised if the federal government isn’t going to start pulling them.”

Since we are not going to be using it, we should send the money back with a note saying they work for us, not the other way around.

They have strings. Got scissors?

BRENT REGAN

Coeur d’Alene