Group cites state sovereignty under U.S. Constitution
The Aroostook County Republican Committee unanimously passed a resolution citing Amendments IX and X of the U.S. Constitution and recommended passage of two bills, LD 58 and LD 1172, currently before the Maine Legislature. Other states are considering similar actions. The Resolution was sponsored by former state senator, Hayes Gahagan, Aroostook County Republican chair of Presque Isle.
The Resolution, in part, states:
• WHEREAS, the assumption of power that the federal government has made by enacting the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” interferes with the right of the people of the state of Maine to regulate health care as they see fit, and makes a mockery of James Madison’s assurance in Federalist 45 that the “powers delegated” to the federal government are “few and defined,” while those of the states are “numerous and indefinite,” and
• WHEREAS, the Maine Legislature is considering LD 1172 “An Act To Prohibit Enforcement of Federal Laws in Violation of the Constitution of the United States” expressing the findings of the Legislature that the commerce clause of the United States Constitution is valid for the regulation of interstate commerce but not intrastate commerce and prohibits a federal or state official, agent or employee from enforcing a federal act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation that attempts to regulate goods grown, manufactured or made in this state or services performed in this State under penalty of law.
Therefore be it resolved that the Aroostook County Republican Committee:
• Supports nullification of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” and
• Encourages Republican members of the Aroostook County legislative delegation to support LD 58 and LD 1172.
“We live in a free Republic where the individual is sovereign. Obamacare represents federal collectivists’ intervention that restricts individual choice in the marketplace. We have a bill before Maine Legislature — a bill that would allow Maine citizens to purchase insurance across state lines. This is a better answer in reducing the cost of health care and keeping the choice to the individual rather than the government,” said Gahagan.
