Health care should not be forced on us

To the Editor,

Imagine if Congress mandated that people must buy a house or a new car. Would it make those things affordable? No, it would not. The same is true with health insurance.

Most people don’t have insurance simply because it is too expensive, a reason so obvious that even a politician should get it. The mandate will no doubt be used by the industry to raise rates even higher and thus put insurance out of the reach of even more people. Even if the government was to provide an insurance subsidy, the American people would be forced (through taxation) to pay for it, and that is no different than paying for someone else’s health care. What a law Congress has given us — force people to buy insurance or fine/tax them for refusing. Hurray for freedom!

In the former Soviet Union the government provided jobs, housing and health care. Ironically, the financial burden of those things helped bankrupt the Soviet government into extinction. Even worse, the Russian people were treated as property of the state and had no liberties. Is this what we want in America?

Nowhere in the Constitution does it give Congress the right to force us to buy anything, and the health care law is no doubt unconstitutional. I hope the Supreme Court will protect Americans and strike down this abuse of power.

Alan Laird

Ollie, Iowa