In this Part 1 video, Dr. Chris explains his constitutional position on medical care. Please see below for the transcript.
Hello. I am Dr. Chris Magiera from Warsaw, Indiana, and I am running for the United States House of Representatives from the 3rd Congressional District of Indiana. On May 5 June 2, 2020, there will be a Republican Party primary election, in which I will be challenging the career-politician incumbent, Representative Jim Banks.
Every day, the career politicians, and the massive administrative state that they support, infringe upon your God-given natural rights and liberties. But do not despair. There is a solution: the Constitution solution. By only voting for legislation that aligns with the original intent of the Founders’ Constitution, I will work to secure your natural rights and liberties. Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of medical care.
I dare say that it is a rare person I talk to who has total satisfaction with the state of medical care in our Union. As a practicing physician for over 37 years, I can testify that, yes, it truly is a mess! Okay, so we all agree that it is a mess, but the larger question is how to restore some semblance of order and cost containment to the issue? But in order to know the cure, one must have insight into the cause and extent of the disease.
Medical care represents about one-sixth of our total economy. That is a big number since the GDP is on the order of 21 trillion dollars. When you consider the annual budget of the federal government, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 trillion, about 70 percent of that is what is called mandatory entitlement spending: Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Oh, and by the way, you are aware that the federal government spends more each year than it takes in with revenue? The national debt is now over 23 trillion, and just the annual interest alone on that debt is at 479 billion dollars.
I will stop here, as debt and deficit talk is a more effective anesthetic than propofol. The point is, that private and federal government spending on medical care is, well, unhealthy (if you forgive the pun) to our national sovereignty, national security, and individual liberty.
Wow, so, in the space of a few paragraphs, I have gone from the cost of an antibiotic to a threat to our God-given natural rights and liberties! But it’s true. It seems that every politician on the campaign trail has a snappy little sound bite on the solution for the issue of medical care. And, yes, so do I. Are you ready?
“Dr. Magiera, as a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, what is your opinion concerning the involvement of the federal government in medical care?” That’s simple: It’s unconstitutional! You heard me, it’s unconstitutional. Remember what I have been repeating in these presentations? Constitutionality over utility! One, is it constitutional? Two, can we afford it? Three, is it necessary? In that order.
You can read the Constitution a thousand times, and you will not find the words “medical care” or “healthcare” anywhere, and especially not in Article 1, Section 8: The enumerated taxing and spending and legislating powers of the Congress. You may recall (I have told you previously) that as a physician, I am used to giving advice that is not easy, convenient, or popular. Medical care is not a right, it is a commodity to be exchanged in a free market between informed sellers and buyers. The free market is the only way in which to ensure optimal access, low cost, and high quality. “Cash, catastrophic insurance, and charity” should be the mantra.
Our entitlement crisis in general, and the medical care crisis in particular, began with the Federal government involvement under the Progressive agenda of FDR (Social Security, differential IRS treatment of employer-provided health insurance). It was made much worse by LBJ (Medicare and Medicaid) and exacerbated further by Obama and the ACA. Career politicians and the administrative state created the problem, and the politicians of today, including most of the so-called “conservatives” in the Republican Party, are either unable or unwilling to solve the problem.
And that is where I come in. I am not now, nor will I ever be, a career politician. This status gives me the freedom to be unafraid to confront leadership: Democrat, Republican, or presidential. Believe me, do not listen to the Socialists. While they may promise “free” medical care or “Medicare for All,” you will be lucky to even get “VA Care for All.”
Before bringing this part of the discussion to a close, allow me to present the other part of the Constitution Solution for medical care, which does involve a government role. It will only take you one reading of the Constitution and the Amendments to come across the 10th Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The Founders were a compassionate group, who did believe in a social safety net, but one of local and state control. It was their intent that the federal government was to be restricted to matters primarily of an external nature: war, peace, negotiations, and foreign commerce. The states were to possess all other internal powers. So, if there were to be any regulation or legislation in the matter of medical care, it would be up to the states, acting individually or through constitutionally authorized compact agreements.
The federal government approach to most problems tends, by nature, to be oppressive, expensive, and inefficient. The 50 individual states will be the multiple laboratories for much more cost-efficient and equitable solutions. So, you see, there is a Constitution Solution for medical care, and people will not be “dying in the streets,” nor will Grandmother be “pushed off a cliff,” as the collectivists will claim. This will take time and effort, as I will explain in the next segment of “Medical Care and the Constitution Solution.”
So, remember, the Founders were very wise and designed the Constitution to secure your God-given natural rights and liberties. To continue the vision of the Founders, I urge you to vote for Dr. Chris Magiera for Congress in the May 5 June 2, 2020 Republican Party primary election for the 3rd Congressional District of Indiana. Thank you.