I’m sure you all heard the news last week that 47% of Americans now pay no federal income tax whatsoever. Well let me tell you it is an honor to stand here and be surrounded by the 53% of proud Americans that actually do pay all the taxes!
I’m going to talk fast today so first I want to publicly thank our local State Representatives that co-signed House Resolution 6036 with me. They are Brenda Landwehr, Phil Hermanson, Steve Brunk, Pete DeGraaf, Dan Kerschen, Marc Rhoades, Kasha Kelley and Gene Suellentrop.
Our resolution reads in part:
“Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Kansas: That in accordance with K.S.A. 75-702, the Attorney General of the State of Kansas is hereby required to bring an action in the United States District Court challenging the Federal health care package in order to protect the rights and freedoms that have been guaranteed Kansans under the Constitution of the United States of America.”
Way back in 1994 a Congressional Budget Office memorandum said, “A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States.”
If Congress has the power to regulate economic inactivity, such as the decision not to purchase health insurance, then there would be no limit to its power and the Commerce Clause would reign supreme in every conceivable circumstance. Congress could mandate anything it wanted! It would signal the end of our constitutional federalism.
So I’m speaking today because we need your help! Our liberal Kansas governor and attorney general are refusing to join the other 18 states in declaring that ObamaCare is unconstitutional. We need everyone here to go home and email or write a letter to the governor and attorney general asking them to reconsider their disappointing, weak decision.
Friends, we have liberal democrat leaders who were un-elected to their current positions who have now repeatedly said they want Kansas to sit on the sidelines. Remember, our attorney general was appointed to his position by our former Governor. She would be a chief defendant in this case and that is why the governor and attorney general want to sit this one out.
That is a gross conflict of interest to choose your old boss over the people of Kansas. I guess we need to remind the attorney general that he is our attorney!
They also say we can’t afford to join the lawsuit! In fact, the governor said it is “a matter of dollars and cents.” Well, he’s right! North Carolina estimates an additional $400 million per year in Medicaid spending. Indiana estimates another $2.3 billion through 2019. The democrat governor of Tennessee said, “This is the mother of all unfunded mandates.”
And what about Kansas? The KHPA says 100,000 more people will simply be dumped into Kansas Medicaid. This will devastate the state budget. The Kansas Insurance Department says nationally the new fees include tens of billions of dollars annually on the pharmaceutical sector, on medical device manufacturers and on the health insurance sector.
But let me set the record straight: the Florida attorney general will write the brief and spend the resources. All Kansas needs is an attorney general to co-sign with the other 18 states. The only cost to Kansas to join this lawsuit would be the ink used in the pen when we make our attorney general sign his name! This is simple math. Joining the lawsuit is much cheaper than the cataclysmic budget event Kansas will get hit with if we don’t stop ObamaCare!
Affordable health care is vital to our citizens and small business owners. We support true Health Care reform that lowers cost, improves access and portability of health insurance. But shifting the high cost of health care today from an individual to the 53% of people already paying all the taxes is not the solution.
Friends, this is the seminal constitutional event of our generation. Kansas must have a voice in the outcome. You know, sometimes when you are trying to figure out how to go forward, it helps a little bit if you look backwards first. We must never forget that our state’s founding fathers came here to the front lines to lead the fight for liberty and freedom in the 1850’s during “Bleeding Kansas” to ensure that Kansas became another Free State in the Union.
And it was a Kansan, General Dwight Eisenhower, who planned the historic D-Day landings at Normandy during World War II. Other Kansans like Walter Chrysler, William Allen White and Amelia Earhart all set examples for the rest of the world to follow.
So together, let’s remind our governor and attorney general that Kansas is not a state that sits on the sidelines and we never have been! It just simply isn’t in our DNA!
Kansas needs a strong education system, affordable health care and an attractive business environment and we don’t get there with tax increases and socialized medicine.
I am dismayed that in the past 18 months, we as taxpayers are all now partial owners of General Motors, numerous large banks and other financial institutions, and we are co-signors on upwards of a trillion dollars worth of mortgages and student loans. I do not believe that the federal government should own these companies or partially nationalize these industries.
Friends, I believe almost all Kansans want the right to choose the health care plan, hospital, doctor, and prescription drug plan that is best for them.
As I close here, I hope to see all of you on May 2nd at Intrust Bank Arena to hear Gov. Sarah Palin speak. There are a few tickets still available and the proceeds go to a great cause.
If you see Congressman Tiahrt here today, tell him you are proud of him for being one of the very first members of Congress to speak out against ObamaCare a year ago.
Finally, if you want to see H.R. 6036 come and talk to me. I will be over at the Pompeo For Congress booth. Come and get your “I Like Mike” button and thank Mike for signing the Club For Growth’s pledge to repeal ObamaCare.
Thank you and God Bless!
