The College Fix

I’d like to be among the first to congratulate you liberals for winning the war for America’s future. By voting to uphold the Obama’s Health Insurance mandate, Chief Justice Roberts has handed America over to an almost certain future dominated by Democrats, liberals, and progressives.

I have to admit, as a conservative American who values limited government and strict adherence to the U.S. Constitution, I never thought I would see the day when one of our own — Chief Justice John Roberts — would join his liberal colleagues on the high court in removing one of the last barriers against government intrusion into the lives of citizens, thereby putting us on a near-irreversible path toward European-style social engineering, wealth redistribution, and limitless government control of the economy.

If the government can force U.S. citizens to buy something they don’t want or can’t afford to buy — in this case, health insurance — then what limits, if any, remain over it’s power to control their lives? Precious few, I’d say.

In his majority decision, Justice Roberts defended his decision by calling the health insurance mandate “a tax.” If liberals agree with the outcome of this Supreme Court decision, then they will have to agree with the legal reasoning behind it. Every health insurance premium dollar is now, under the reasoning of the high court, nothing more than a “tax.” In that case, liberals will have to agree that Obama and the Democrats are now responsible for the largest “tax” increase in the history of the nation. Will they be touting that fact this election season?

Now that the government has secured this unprecedented power over us — thanks to a 5-4 decision from Supreme Court — a new era has dawned for liberals, who will now have a new confidence to pursue countless other long-deferred projects of social engineering, telling American’s how they must live, what they can and can’t buy, all with the force of law behind them.

Want to force all Americans to buy a brand new hybrid car, whether they can afford it or not, or else hit them with a stiff fine? I see no reason why you shouldn’t have such power. This is a brand new age of unlimited government control.

Do you want to force all Americans to buy more expensive organic, pesticide-free produce, whether they can afford it or not? Or do you want to force all parents to put their children in preschool at age 2, whether they think its best for their children or not? Consider yourselves empowered. There is no stopping you now. With the new ability to penalize any American who resists purchasing whatever the government tells him or her to purchase, liberals can now get busy instituting the radical social transformations they have always dreamed about.

You’ve won. And there’s nothing my fellow conservatives and I can do to stop you.

Best of all, for you, with Obamacare, you have now laid the foundations for what is bound to evolve into the largest government entitlement program since Johnson’s Great Society. It’s only a matter of time before the public gets used to mandated health coverage, and begins to grow comfortable with their loss of liberty. Once the public has grown comfortable with the liberty-for-security tradeoff, it will be easy for Democrats to expand the health insurance mandate into a full-blown single-payer, universal health care entitlement program. That’s been the goal all along, hasn’t it?

And once voters grow accustomed to that entitlement, there’s no taking it away from them. We all know that.

We are on the path toward total government takeover of the U.S. health care system within a generation. And with that takeover, Democrats will win the loyalty of millions of voters who, when it comes to their healthcare, will view the government as their ultimate provider.

Never mind if it takes months to gain access to lifesaving surgery — like it does in the U.K. and in other nations that have adopted a socialistic approach. Never mind if the quality of care declines, or if budget shortfalls force the rationing of medical services and the withdrawal of care for the elderly.

Politically, this is a windfall for Democrats. In time, voters will grow accustomed to government control of their health care. They will grow used to the government telling them what health care options are or aren’t available for them. Above all, they will grow used to the feeling that the government is “providing” for them. And they will vote for Democrats, whom they will view as the political guardians of their entitlements.

Don’t get me wrong: Universal health care would be great if it weren’t for the fact that it severely degrades the quality of care, requires us to rob Americans of their economic liberties, and promises to bury our economy under a mountain of debt. Other than all of that, it’s a perfect system.

There is no question that you liberals have won a major political victory. You have every reason to look forward to a new era of power and ascendancy. Go ahead and celebrate. I won’t begrudge you the pleasure.

I only ask you this: Stop pretending that health care comes without cost. Next, take a look at our nation’s balance sheets, which, last I checked, were sitting at about $16 trillion in the hole. Then, finally, take a look at all the bankrupt nations of Europe, which are now facing catastrophic financial collapse, and get a good glimpse of America’s financial future.

Mark my words, Democrats, liberals, progressives, wherever you are: Years from now, when you have bankrupted this nation, when your socialist-utopian fantasies are over and the U.S. has been brought to its knees, Americans will come running back to the principles of economic freedom that made this country prosperous to begin with. They will come running back to the principles of liberty that made America the one place where oppressed and impoverished people around the world most long to be.

Those of us who value liberty above security, and who respect the limits on government power that America’s founders put in the Constitution — we will be there to pick up the pieces, and point the way back.

Celebrate, dear liberals, but not too much. You have won the battle. But the war will never end.

This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post.

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