Missouri Voters Reject Federal Health Insurance Mandate

By a margin of 3::1 voters in Missouri yesterday approved Proposition C, which changes state law to bar any government entity from fining a person for failing to buy health insurance - a key provision of the "healthcare reform" bill passed by Congress and signed by president Obama in March. Since the mandate does not take effect until 2014, there will be no immediate impact from the MO vote. If implemented, the measure is certain to be challenged in court. Regardless, the outcome of the MO vote is one more indication of the growing unpopularity of the reform bill and the margin by which the measure was approved has to elevate the importance of the issue to the November mid-term elections.

Irrespective of your position on healthcare reform, the whole issue is bringing into focus the erosion of States' rights and the steady usurpation of powers not granted by the US Constitution to the Federal government. As of now 11 States are suing in Federal courts to overturn the entire bill on that basis alone. Its been 148 years since we fought a brutal war over the States' Rights issue. Apparently it wasn't as settled as we assumed.