ObamaCare Repeal for South Dakota

The following letter was composed by Tonchi Weaver, long-time conservative activist and friend from Rapid City, South Dakota, and sent to each member of the South Dakota House State Affairs Committee regarding the repeal of SB38(2011)(2011) and SB43(2011)(2011). This would be accomplished by the passage in committee of HB1165(2012) and HB1167(2012).

It is published here at Mrs. Weaver’s request and with her permission.

 

Dear Representatives,

 

Here is a short list of reasons why we need to repeal SB38(2011) and SB43(2011) by passing HB1165(2012) and HB1167(2012):

 

1. South Dakota is a plaintiff along with 25 other states and entities suing against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on the grounds that the provisions of the law are unconstitutional. In violation of the Oath of Office, our legislators have passed and our Executive branch has codified laws that are by their own admission, unconstitutional.

 

2. For all its voluminous regulations, there is no funding mechanism provided in the PPACA. The only way PPACA can be enforced is if the states establish their own healthcare insurance exchanges voluntarily. The threat of the Federal Government imposing an exchange on our state if we don’t implement an exchange first is a ruse.

 

3. SB 38 was heavily lobbied by the Division of Insurance and large insurance companies. No testimony by representatives of the medical community or consumer interests was heard in the Senate Committee.

 

4. This law was promoted as containing mostly “style and form” improvements and a “streamlining” of the appeals process.” That “streamlining” removed the right of an individual or their representative from being present at a first level review (Section 80). It is important to remember that a bureaucracy is its own constituency, and the testimony of bureaucrats should be balanced with testimony representing the people’s interests. Reliance on the testimony of bureaucrats upsets the balance of power and muffles the voice of the people, wherein the power to govern resides. The requirements of PPACA are not enforced until 2014. Why should our State government act voluntary as a de facto agent of the Federal Government?

 

5. South Dakota’s laws that implement PPACA have placed the success of Florida v. US Dept. of Health and Human Services in grave danger. Our compliant actions contradict our claim that PPACA is unconstitutional.

 

6. Like PPACA, SB38(2011) has no conscience protections for medical providers or religious employers, yet it offers protection for abortion clinics in the event of a botched abortion.

 

7. SB38(2011) establishes a system of “gatekeepers” (actual language in the bill) that block access to specialized treatment and advanced diagnostics and establishes rules that criminalize doctors who treat patients according to medical efficacy instead of guidelines set by the Division of Insurance and/or the Secretary of HHS.

 

8. The rules established with SB43(2011) protract ‘childhood’ until the day before one’s 30th birthday as long as one remains a full-time student. The socio-economic consequences of such a rule include:
• removal of the statistically healthiest segment of our population from the risk pool;
• the young are disincentivized from entering the labor force and developing a strong work ethic during their most productive years;
• a surplus of citizens who are ‘overqualified’ for the jobs available in our state.

 

9. SB43(2011) and SB38(2011) seek to manage care for all South Dakotans, but managed care is not about care; it is about managing. These laws put private insurance under government control, changing forever what ‘private’ means. These insurance carriers will eventually be squeezed out.

 

10. These laws put state and federal bureaucrats in a position of making all but the most basic health care decisions for the citizens of South Dakota and place the PRACTICE of medicine in a subordinate role to the BUSINESS of medicine. (Not coincidentally, medical schools have seen a decline in applicants while business schools are booming.) The Federal law has the IPAB; our permanent law has the Clinical Review Board. (Different name; same function) Sara Palin called them death panels. It is the stuff that nightmares are made of.

 

Finally, the citizens of our state want their legislators to take a stand against the tyranny of the PPACA law. It is not enough for our representatives to declare they are “against ObamaCare…BUT….” and
then continue to dig our grave for us.

 

Please….have the courage, for God’s sake and ours, to take a stand and tell the Federal Government that South Dakota is not your Petri dish! We will not yield. Call their bluff and protect the sovereignty of our beloved State. Pass these repeal bills out of committee and give them the debate they deserve in the Chamber. Then, make history and vote for REPEAL!

 

Respectfully,
Toni (Tonchi) Weaver
Lobbyist, SDCFL
Rapid City, SD

 

***Ed Randazzo, is a nationally syndicated author. He has been a conservative activist and consultant for over 30 years and is currently the Chief News Editor of Life and Liberty Media***