Nevada Man Sues Over Health Care, Calls 'Socialistic' Law 'Involuntary Servitude'

[Emit]

In what he dubbed the crowning achievement of his life's work, Nevada Independent American Party attorney general candidate Joel Hansen filed last week what he said is the most comprehensive lawsuit against the health care law signed by President Barack Obama earlier this year.

Unlike separate suits filed by Virginia and a joint suit by several states that Hansen contends are too focused on the 10th Amendment, Hansen's suit alleges the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act violates a plethora of amendments: the First, the Third through Fifth, the Ninth, 10th and 13th.

For those keeping track at home, those are the amendments that, respectively: regulate freedom of religion, the press assembly and petition; ban the forced quartering of soldiers; prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures; guarantee due process, ban double jeopardy and set rules for eminent domain; ensures fundamental rights; limit the power of the federal government; and abolish slavery.

What does slavery and the quartering of soldiers have to do with health care reform, you ask? According Hansen, the health care law constitutes "Peonage - the coercing an individual to work off a debt by threat of legal sanction." He says that is against the 13th amendment, which banned slavery and indentured servitude. As for the fourth amendment, Hansen says there's a "right to privacy protected as a liberty right" under the fourth and fifth amendments.

~snip~

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/nevada_christian_sues_over_health_care_calls_socialistic_law_involuntary_servitude.php

For those unfamiliar with Nevada Politics, Hansen and many of his relatives are associated with the Nevada Families Eagle Forum and the National Independent American Party.

[mike r]

1. He wants to be paid "in gold and silver United States dollars"

Typical nut.

[Myrina]

2. I agree with the involuntary servitude part ...

.... being told to pay x% of our income to a set of companies or face a FEDERAL PENALTY sounds like servitude to me ...

[burnsei sensei]

3. Hansen's idea doesn't stand up to American precedent.

Quote:
According Hansen, the health care law constitutes "Peonage - the coercing an individual to work off a debt by threat of legal sanction."
end quote.

From the 1870s to the 1950s, debt peonage, tenancy and sharecropping akin to slavery all existed in this country.
They are not illegal now. In fact, you can be forced to work off a debt if you don't have the money to pay it.
Involuntary servitude still exists-- for every person not earning a living wage.
People are bought and sold as property by health insurance companies-- they hold the means of life and health, and you must pay for them. IN essence, they hold you, your life and limb, in their hands and you are forced into self-purchase.
No different from slavery. No different at all!
The health care reform debate should have been about rights, not about "cost" "quality" and "affordability". These words were designed to skirt the real issue-- what rights do the American people have concerning the well-being of their persons?