Hopefully by now you are aware that Senator Chris McDaniel and I have filed a citizens class action lawsuit against the PPACA, the liberty-robbing “Obamacare” statute, in the federal court for the Southern District of Mississippi.  Please see our prior article on this subject here. The response from liberty-loving Americans has been overwhelming — from Big Media, not so much.  I understand their disinterest, though, because really important things like the travails of a billionaire golfer takes up so much of their time. That’s quite alright, because I would rather come directly to you to make important announcements like this:  Lt. Governor Phil Bryant has entered our class action lawsuit against the PPACA as an individual, private citizen.  He is serving as a Petitioner, and is the class representative for a uniquely important class:  employees of the State of Mississippi. 

Lt. Governor Phil Bryant addresses crowd in Jackson, Mississippi

Why this new class is important. 

Congress is now dictating what must be — and must not be — in your health insurance plan.  In other words, they are controlling the health insurance that your employer is offering you.  Socialism is defined as “government ownership or control of all the means of production (farms, factories, mines, and natural resources) and all the means of distribution (transportation, communications, and the instruments of commerce).”  Realize, “socialized medicine” is here, right now.  Even worse, by controlling what health insurance plans must be offered, Congress and the Executive branch are controlling your employer, and thus your employment. 

Your liberty depends on the survival of your republic.  The PPACA is a direct attack on the republican form of government. 

Every kid who’s ever put hand over heart and recited the Pledge of Allegiance knows that we live in a republic:  “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” 

In fact, we have been blessed with what James Madison called “the compound republic of America,” having been guaranteed that each state is a sovereign republic in itself, not just the national government.  In this unique and hugely successful system of government, federal control over the states is an anathema: 

This separation of the two spheres is one of the Constitution’s structural protections of liberty. “Just as the separation and independence of the coordinate branches of the Federal Government serve to prevent the accumulation of excessive power in any one branch, a healthy balance of power between the States and the Federal Government will reduce the risk of tyranny and abuse from either front.” 

Printz v. U.S., 521 U.S. 898 (1997) (Scalia, J).  We’ve spent so much time focusing on the separation of powers amongst the three branches of government that we’ve forgotten about the very vital separation of powers between the States and Congress.  If the federal government dictates what the States can do, our republic is destroyed, and liberty-robbing tyranny is all that can result. 

Congress has chosen to commandeer our state employees, even our elected officials, with the PPACA.  Lest you think that “commandeer” is too strong of a word to use, consider that the federal government now controls the terms and conditions of employment for all state workers everywhere.  States now must offer health insurance plans dictated only by the federal government; we all recognize that a health insurance plan is one of the most important aspects of the employer-employee relationship.  In fact, since it is nothing more than a form of compensation, it really is the most important aspect. 

In the Printz v. US case I cited above, Justice Scalia said:  “When we were at last confronted squarely with a federal statute that unambiguously required the States to enact or administer a federal regulatory program, our decision should have come as no surprise.”  I think you can guess that the Court’s response was rather chilly toward the federal government’s overreaching.  In FERC v. Mississipi, the Supreme Court said that “this Court never has sanctioned explicitly a federal command to the States to promulgate and enforce laws and regulations.” FERC v. Mississippi, 456 U.S. 742, 761-62 (1982).  Congress may not commandeer state officials, or any state employees, in order to implement federal law.  In substance, this is exactly what Congress has done with the PPACA.  This is a clear violation of state sovereignty, and utterly destructive of the Constitution’s guarantee of a compound republic. 

This class, that of state employees, is uniquely important.  Do you really want Congress to dictate the terms of employment between your state government and your state officials and civil servants?  Realize, this is 180 degrees out of phase with the intentions of the Framers, and with the clear statements implementing their vision found in the Constitution that they wrote. 

Why is it important that Lt. Governor Bryant is a petitioner? 

Lt. Governor Bryant is showing that any elected official can do this.  Actually, any state employee can do this, but we all recognize how important it is for us to get our elected leaders to take point, and lead. 

Lt. Governor Bryant has a long history of fighting for conservative beliefs and traditional values.  His persistence in promoting conservative public policy stems from his belief that people, not the government, know best how to take care of themselves.  The way I see it, he has been fighting for liberty — freedom — for years.  I cannot think of a better person in this great State to represent the new class we have added. 

He’s also a candidate for Governor.  Think about this — why shouldn’t our candidates, whether currently in office of not, be petitioners?  Why shouldn’t we go to town hall meetings, campaign rallies, and press conferences in order to push them into action, not just into making statements? 

Here in Mississippi, as in other states, most people want for our state to enter into the lawsuit filed in Florida by fifteen other states.  Governor Haley Barbour (the very effective chairman of the Republican Governors Association and a former RNC chairman) has been pushing our Attorney General — a Democrat — to get into the lawsuit, but to no avail.  Governor Barbour is quite resourceful, and we hope that he will find a way to work around this obstacle.  Regardless, Lt. Governor Bryant isn’t waiting for anyone — he’s taking action now. 

Put up or shut up. 

Here in Mississippi, I’m proud to say that we’re up to two prominent elected officials (Senator Chris McDaniel and Lt. Governor Phil Bryant) who are taking positive, substantive action to save our healthcare system from the clutches of socialism, and our republican form of government from Congress.  How many does your state have?  None?  Well then, maybe it’s time that you made them earn their pay. 

Write a letter, fax or email to the elected officials in your own state and tell them it’s time to stop posturing.  Are any of them hiding behind their Attorney General, saying “gee whiz, I want the state to get involved, but we can’t force the AG to do it, sorry guys”?  Tell them it’s time to put up, or shut up.  It takes courage for an elected state official to do what Lt. Governor Bryant is doing, but that is precisely what we demand of our elected officials — courage to do what is right.So, what are you waiting for? 

Get busy.

Here’s a list from the story of other NO votes on Pelosi’s flip target list:

Baird, Gordon, Altmire, Boccieri, Kosmas, Murphy, Markey, Teague, Kucinich, Tanner, Boyd, Matheson, Nye, Barrow, Davis – TN

You can access a full list of telephone & fax numbers for all Blue Dog Democrats in the House on our website:

http://www.meridianteaparty.com/index.php/links/blue-dog-democrats/

It has come to my attention that even though We The People have made our preference for you to leave our health care system alone, you have now decided to attempt to ram this boondoggle down our throats using any means at your disposal. We have voiced our negative opinion of your approach to health care reform and you’ve ignored us. We have marched in the streets of Washington, D.C. and you’ve turned a blind eye and a deaf ear. We’ve made telephone calls, signed petitions, and recruited our friend and family to work with us to defeat this bill at every opportunity and you’ve continued tried to march us toward the socialism that you seem so desperate bring to America.

For more than 60 years, you have worked to subvert our Constitution, transfer the wealth of our working families to non-producers, and sold our children’s future to fund your re-election efforts. The goal for you has always been the raw, unadulterated power associated with being elites within a two-class system. You claim that the have’s must be converted to have not’s while you secretly plundered the treasury of this Country for your own personal gain. You have put your personal good ahead of the good of America and you’ve given yourselves over to the lusts of your intellects.

You have assumed that the ends justify the means and you’ve believed that somehow you know better than We The People how to rule this Nation and you’ve done everything possible to position yourselves to be at the top of the food chain when you finally get your way. Every time your ideas are tried they have failed. You accuse others of having impure motives while working your own impure motives overtime. You’ve selected Judges to subvert the rule of law. You’ve appointed haters of American Values as the heads of your bureaucracies. You’ve elected (often through cheating) those who would blindly follow the Liberal agenda and when they’ve out-lived their usefulness, you’ve worked to replace them with Liberal partisans who are just as blind as those they replace.

I am only one American and I have no resources and I have no power, save one: my vote. And I can promise you one thing, should you push Health Care Reform through after we’ve made our feelings clear over and over again, I will vote against you every chance I have and I will work with every fiber of my being to convince as many people as possible to join me in my mission of sending you home and preventing liberals from ever gaining power in the Country again. You will ignore my promise, or toss it aside as a “threat”, but do not doubt my resolve. I have not forgotten that our Founding Fathers gave us a Republic, and the responsibility to protect it for the next generation.

Ignore me if you want. Laugh at me if you will. You will not do so after November, 2010.

Sincerely,

An American Citizen

We just received an email update from Rep. Fleming explaining the current situation with HR 615 and his ongoing efforts to fight Health Care Reform and wanted to share it with you:

FLEMING HEALTH CARE REFORM UPDATE

Update on H.Res 615: Call on Members of Congress to Enroll in the Public Option

Because you have previously contacted my office by email in support of H. Res. 615, my resolution calling on Members of Congress to enroll in the public option, I wanted to give you an update.

Like many of you, I am deeply concerned that Congress will press forward to enact an intrusive government administered health care plan, despite the higher costs and lowered level of care other countries with similar systems have experienced.

You will be pleased to know that more than 100 Members of Congress joined in support of H. Res. 615, my common sense measure calling on Members who vote for an intrusive government-administered health care plan to enroll in that system.  Since launching this effort, nearly 3 million Americans like you have contacted my office in support of H. Res. 615.  In response I offered an amendment to the Democratic Leadership health care bill to automatically enroll all Members of Congress and all Senators in the public option.  Predictably, my amendment was rejected out of hand by the Majority and was not given a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Common sense seems to have failed us in the health care debate.  That is why I offered a resolution asking Members of Congress to put their “money where their mouth is” and call for Members who support a public option lead by example and be required to enroll in the public option themselves.  If a Member is willing to vote for such an option, why shouldn’t they enroll in it?

THE DOCTOR’S DIAGNOSIS: There is no doubt about it; health care in America must be reformed.  The answer, however, is not an intrusive government administered health care plan.  As a practicing physician for over 30 years, I am concerned that the kind of “reform” being debated back and forth on Capitol Hill will insert Washington bureaucrats between patients and their doctors, burden the middle class with new taxes, and raise insurance premiums for almost everyone.  That is unacceptable “reform.” I will continue to work to represent you and to bring common sense back to this debate.

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JOHN FLEMING, M.D.