Replies

On the issue of the 17th amendment (and the 16th for that matter) we agree: these two devices allowed the fedgov to become a monster.

I would strongly favor the repeal of both.

However, while I agree that this does indeed tie the hands of state gov’t’s, they do still have all kinds of tools at their disposal to wreck havoc on the fedgov’s plans.

Take Obamacare. What would the fedgov do if a state banned the federal exchanges in their state and refused to allow the navigators into the state to work? What if the dept of insurance banned any insurance company from both providing insurance directly and/or through employers and providing coverage through the exchanges?

What would the fedgov do if a state decided that they didn’t want to participate in Medicaid anymore, at all (a huge driver of most state budgets)? You keep your Medicaid dollars, we’ll provide the care we deem appropriate.

What’s Washington going to do? Send out the national guard? Let them. It would make a point as large as the filibuster.

On the point of the 16th and 17th we agree. Still, the states, especially if a few worked in concert, could put a stop to quite a bit of the crap coming from Washington. The only question is if they’ll tolerate putting a stop to the gravy train that comes with the crap.

That’s a problem for my proposed solution. It’s a problem for yours.

Take Obamacare. What would the fedgov do if a state banned the federal exchanges in their state and refused to allow the navigators into the state to work... What would the fedgov do if a state decided that they didn’t want to participate in Medicaid anymore...?

Obama Slaps States That Don't Comply With Obamacare

Residents of states that refuse to set up health insurance exchanges under Obamacare are set to be hit with higher premiums under new rules announced by the Health and Human Services Department.
Insurance companies will be charged 3.5 percent of any premiums they sell through the federal exchanges, the department announced Friday. And insurers are likely to pass that surcharge on to clients, leaading to higher premiums.
The only states to be affected are those that refuse to set up their own exchanges because of opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They are almost certain to be those under Republican control. In those states, HHS will set up the exchanges.

-PJ