The Glade 4.0

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

And that cuts both ways. Also, some of it is not just subjective.

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It feels like all the people who want limited government really just want government limited to Republicans.
---The Daily Show

Sorry for the necropost, but I just read this. It is a little dated but still relevant to this topic.

Why the Health-Care Bills Are Unconstitutional wsj

By ORRIN G. HATCH, J. KENNETH BLACKWELL AND KENNETH A. KLUKOWSKI


Sounds reasonable to me, even if that means I agree with a Republican.

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"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one." Charles Mackay

As I've pointed out a bunch of times, the health care bill does NOT require anyone to purchase health insurance. It simply implements an additional surtax that only applies to those that don't have insurance. Since Congress has basically unlimited taxation power due to the 16th Amendment, there is nothing unconstitutional at all about the health care bill. It's also why all checks on federal power are essentially meaningless, as they can completely Constitutionally just say, "fall in line with this or pay 90% income tax, your choice."

Punitive taxes as a result of a requirement to purchase a good are a mandate to purchase a good.

Name something else the government treats similarly.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

...would you like a list? The federal government has been using taxation to grant itself powers that would otherwise be unconstitutional for decades. The best example would be the entire Department of Education, the Fed collects income tax to fund it and then demands the states follow their rules if they want to get their money back. Any state can opt out, of course, but then its citizens would have to pay for their own schools plus extra tax to subsidize everyone else, so of course noone does. This is also how they enforced the 21 drinking age, by simply withholding the tax money collected for road maintenance from any state that didn't comply.

The entire Constitution can be end-run around with this process. They could propose an amendment and then declare that any state that didn't affirm it would no longer recieve a single dollar of federal money for any reason....but you'd still have to pay the full federal income tax. Of course they'd get 50 votes in favor, no matter what it was.

Punitive taxes are simply a fine on behavior.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

Um, fail?

I said this:



And the "example" you give me is the Department of Education?

Name something where the government penalizes you for not making a purchase.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

First thing that came to mind was failure to have your kids vaccinated.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/US/story?id=3866502&page=1

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In time, this too shall pass.

Excellent example.

Not a federal example, but good from a state-level. Then again, Maryland also requires you to buy insurance...

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

Well, you could sort of argue the social security program qualifies. It's not a good that you are required to purchase, but a service you are required to partake of. But it's not a strictly unqualified requirement since mandatory participation is contingent on having income.

Similar arguments could be made for the FDIC and mandatory FEMA flood insurance (in some areas).

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

You actually cover why I wouldn't agree with that classification very well. Furthermore, as an entitlement program, in theory, it doesn't fit as well.



Again, this is wholly avoidable.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

You can stop paying into SSI if you are paying into another qualifying program. These are largely limited to state government employees (Public Employees Retirement System, Texas Teachers Retirement fund,etc.)

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

I don't think that fits, because you don't have to own a car. You only have to buy insurance if you own a vehicle.

Oops.

I meant Mass.....

Sorry!

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

I'm glad to see this taking hold.

Virginia First State to Pass Health Care Freedom Act prnewswire

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"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one." Charles Mackay

*wipes a tear from his eye*

Makes me proud to be a native born son of Virginia.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades