Republican Congress
Opens New Assault on States’ Rights
Yeah, yeah, I know.
People have rights, not states. But in case there’s any confusion about what
we’re talking about here, I’ll let Ronald Reagan, from a 1980 speech, explain
it…
“I still believe the answer to any problem lies with the people. I believe in states' rights. I believe in people doing as much as they can for themselves at the community level and at the private level, and I believe we've distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended in the Constitution to that federal establishment.”
And while the nation under President Donald Trump is
rediscovering the importance of the 10th Amendment and value of
letting the citizens of the various states determine for themselves what to do
on all manner of issues ranging from abortion to marriage to public bathrooms
to legalized pot, the busy-bodies on Capitol Hill just can’t seem to get the
message.
The new encroachment, tort reform, is an absolutely a dry,
boring and complicated issue for most people, but it’s nonetheless extremely
important.
H.R. 1215 is deceptively-named the “Protecting Access to
Care Act of 2017” – much like the deceptively-named *Affordable* Care Act, aka
ObamaCare - and is sponsored by conservative Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King,
who should know better.
In short, the bill pre-empts state caps on damage awards in
medical malpractice lawsuits and nationalizes them into a one-size-fits all regime. Currently, 30 states already have their own
caps and various limits on damage awards in place – including Nevada - while 18
others bar any such caps.
What this bill would do is scuttle those laws enacted by
each of these individual states – the proverbial “laboratories of democracy” – and
instead impose a Washington-knows-best blanket system for the entire
country. What could go wrong, right?
Believe me, I have no love for greedy, ambulance-chasing,
slip-and-spill personal injury attorneys; however, this isn’t about that. It’s about whether this issue should best be
dealt with at the state or the federal level.
“To justify their efforts to nationalize medical malpractice law,” writes Prof. John Baker of Catholic University Law School about H.R. 1215, “House Republicans are stretching the Supreme Court’s New Deal Commerce Clause jurisprudence almost as far as Democrats did for ObamaCare. Both national medical malpractice reform and ObamaCare are radically at odds with our constitutional structure of federalism.”“Congress has no business - and no authority under the Constitution - telling states what the rules should be governing medical malpractice claims,” adds Hans von Spakovsky of the conservative Heritage Foundation. “Doctors are licensed by states, and state legislatures and state medical authorities have the authority to promulgate the standards of medical care in their states.”
Amen. Let’s hope
Nevada’s Members of Congress feel the same way about this newest over-reach by
our overlords in Washington, DC.
Cheers.
Dr. Chuck Muth, PsD
Professor of
Psephology (homeschooled)
Nevada’s #1 Irritator of Liberals and RINOs
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NEVADA NEWS & VIEWS
For those who say the “trash” issue with the City of Las
Vegas last week giving a new 14-year, NO BID monopoly contract for residential
and commercial garbage collection to Republic Services is over, allow me to
quote the late-great John Belushi
from the hit comedy Animal House…
“Over? Did you say 'over'? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...The tough get goin'!”
There are options being explored. Stand by…
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