Republicans Reference Constitution to Justify Health Care Freeloaders

Every conservative is now a constitutional scholar. In my continuing series of examples showing how the Republicans and conservatives are trying to make the constitution their own, along with their minimalist interpretation of it, I present the tenthers "freeloader freedom" right.

Through constant "constitutional" references that defy logic and legal precedent, they want us to think that they are the protectors and authorities of our founding document. Think Progress does a great job exposing another insane attempt to "uphold" the Tenth Amendment.

A popular right-wing objection to federal health care legislation is that it’s unconstitutional. These “tenthers” argue that since the U.S. Constitution never explicitly gives the federal government the right to regulate health care, the 10th amendment leaves that power to the states.

Sen. John ENSIGN: We’ve allowed exceptions for religious and various other reasons. But some people hold the Constitution pretty high in their lives, and if they believe that this thing is unconstitutional, and they then say, “I choose not to have health insurance, I’m not going to buy it,” we could be subjecting those very people who conscientiously — because they believe in the U.S. Constitution —we could be subjecting them to fines or the interpretation of a judge, potentially, all the way up to imprisonment. That seems to me to be a problem.

Ensign also predicted that some people would actually drop their health insurance “just out of conscience” in order to make a point and show solidarity with the tenthers.

What a great way to not pay for your own insurance, freeload off the taxpayers who buy coverage, all the while claiming the constitution makes it so. It goes against their town hall protests of not wanting to pay for other peoples health care insurance, doesn't it. But wait, it even goes further than getting something for nothing.

Basically, Ensign believes that anyone who claims any law is
unconstitutional should be allowed to ignore that law. While Congress has allowed “exceptions for religious and various other reasons,” in the 1990 case Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, Justice Antonin Scalia actually warned that allowing a person “to become a law unto himself” defies “common sense.”

Oddly, polls indicate that no matter how bizarre the GOP acts, they're gaining support from voters for another take over of congress.