South Carolina Bill Would Criminalize Obamacare

[Great Caesars Ghost]

Source: Huffington Post

South Carolina Bill Would Criminalize Obamacare

The Huffington Post | By Bonnie Kavoussi Posted: 12/19/2012 10:41 am EST | Updated: 12/19/2012 5:04 pm EST

South Carolina is considering outlawing Obamacare.

Five Republican South Carolina state representatives introduced a bill last week that, if passed, would send people to jail for trying to implement the Affordable Care Act in South Carolina.

Under the bill, federal officials, employees and contractors implementing Obamacare could face a jail sentence of up to 5 years, and state officials and employees implementing Obamacare could face a jail sentence of up to 2 years.

Calling Obamacare unconstitutional, the "South Carolina Freedom of Health Care Protection Act" declares that the law "is invalid in this State, is not recognized by this State, is specifically rejected by this State, and is null and void and of no effect in this State."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/19/south-carolina-obamacare_n_2329425.html

[Larkspur]

1. I'd say the SC law is unconstituional as SCOTUS validated the ACA

This is SC throwing a temper tantrum.

[kestrel91316]

2. Well, THAT tactic won't pass Constitutional muster.

[RKP5637]

3. Send the troops in ... n/t

[JDPriestly]

13. You mean like Lincoln did?

During the early months of 1861, the situation around Fort Sumter increasingly began to resemble a siege. In March, Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, the first general officer of the newly formed Confederate States of America, was placed in command of Confederate forces in Charleston. Beauregard energetically directed the strengthening of batteries around Charleston harbor aimed at Fort Sumter. Conditions in the fort grew dire as the Union soldiers rushed to complete the installation of additional guns. Anderson was short of men, food, and supplies.

The resupply of Fort Sumter became the first crisis of the administration of President Abraham Lincoln. He notified the Governor of South Carolina, Francis W. Pickens, that he was sending supply ships, which resulted in an ultimatum from the Confederate government: evacuate Fort Sumter immediately. Major Anderson refused to surrender. Beginning at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, the Confederates bombarded the fort from artillery batteries surrounding the harbor. Although the Union garrison returned fire, they were significantly outgunned and, after 34 hours, Major Anderson agreed to evacuate. There was no loss of life on either side as a direct result of this engagement, although a gun explosion during the surrender ceremonies on April 14 caused two Union deaths.

Following the battle, there was widespread support from both North and South for further military action. Lincoln's immediate call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion resulted in an additional four southern slave states also declaring their secession and joining the Confederacy. The Civil War had begun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Sumter

[liberalhistorian]

18. What else did you expect him to do?

Federal property, and federal soldiers, were under siege and being attacked. The South brought it on itself, South Carolina brought it on itself. It doesn't surprise me at all that the state continues to think it's still 1863 and is STILL a shit stirrer nearly two centuries later.

[atreides1]

21. No not like Lincoln

More like what Eisenhower did, in the case of the Little Rock Nine.

On September 24, the President ordered the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army to Little Rock and federalized the entire 10,000 member Arkansas National Guard, taking it out of the hands of Faubus.

[obamanut2012]

34. No, like Little Rock and other places that spat on integration

If you are a traitor, you should be treated as one.

[beerandjesus]

37. Agreed. I was hoping Obama would do this where the right-wingers were pushing voter suppression.

If I were him, I would have sent a federal marshal to every district where they were pushing that, whether in South Carolina or Pennsylvania.

If you're going to act like a Jim Crow state, you should expect to be treated with an appropriate level of contempt. Northern racists are no better than southern racists.

But back on topic, this is going to go nowhere, and if SC and other states would rather have the feds set this up than do it themselves, so much the better--if the infrastructure is already in place, it will be that much easier to transition to single payer down the road!

[marybourg]

4. Nullification II. Didn't work out all that well the first time, either.

[onenote]

5. they are right that the law is "invalid in this State, is not recognized by this State, is

specifically rejected by this State, and is null and void and of no effect in this State."

Of course, "the law" to which I refer is the South Carolina Freedom of Health Care Protection Act.

[madrchsod]

6. someone tell them obama care is the heritage foundation health care plan...

they`d blow`d up real good!

youtube sucks now that google bought it.. click on the "watch on youtube"

[1StrongBlackMan]

7. Uhmm, South Carolina ...

which do you think will have the greater negative impact on South Carolina's economy; implementing ObamaCare, or the closure of 7 (Federal) Military bases? Imprison (or even arrest) a federal official, employee or contractor for attempting to implement a Federal law if you want to.

And BTW, South Carolina, this discussion was had, and the matter settled, about 150 years ago ... You should remember, it started in your state.

[Renew Deal]

8. That should take around 2 minutes for a court to strike down

Waste of time.

[GodlessBiker]

9. These assholes should be drug tested.

[rurallib]

10. talk about a special kind of stupid.

[JDPriestly]

11. I thought that President Abraham Lincoln set South Carolina straight about seceding from the union.

Not a good idea, guys.

[Shadowflash]

12. Heh.

[Historic NY]

41. Snort..

glad I emptied my coffee cup.

[truebrit71]

42. One of my favourite scenes of all time...

[paleotn]

14. Didn't we sort out this nullification stuff back in the 1830's?

...much less that Civil War bit. Sherman burned Columbia to the ground and they still don't think we're serious.

[BeyondGeography]

15. Goofballs

[Faygo Kid]

16. "I will go to South Carolina and hang the first secessionist I see from the first tree I can reach"

Not a fan of Andrew Jackson, but Old Hickory had it just about right here regarding these clowns.

[Recursion]

26. One of my favorite Andrew Jackson stories...

...was late in his life, a bunch of pro-secession South Carolinians invited him to a party and boozed him up, and started proposing increasingly secessionist toasts, hoping he'd get caught up in the enthusiasm and say something they could use as propaganda.

When it was his turn, he stood up, looked directly at his host, and proposed, "To the Union. She must be preserved."

[happyslug]

27. Yes and Jackson was going to depend on North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee troops to do so

During the Nullification Crisis of 1832, the Railroads were NOT cross the Appalachian Mountains. The Erie Canal was in operation and it was the best East-West transportation line in the Country. The closer "Old Portage Railway" of Pennsylvania was just getting into operation but would NOT open up till 1834.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nullification_Crisis

Pennsylvania Portage Railway:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_Portage_Railroad

Erie Canal opened in 1825:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canal

What would become the New York Central had cross those mountains by 1844:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad did not go over those mountains till 1854:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was SUPPOSE to go over those mountains, but never did (The B&O Railroad beat it over the mountains)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_and_Ohio_Canal

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad cross those mountains in 1853:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_and_Ohio_Railroad

Yes the B&O beat the Pennsylvania railroad over the mountains, but the B&O used iron strips on wooden rails to cut costs (Iron Strips were much cheaper then Iron Rails, both had to be imported from England at that time period). The Pennsylvania ALWAYS used Iron Rails (till replaced by Steel Rails starting in the 1870s).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Railroad

The only East-West route through the South went via Atlanta, and used the same type of rails as the B&O but had been over the mountain by 1850, this was the route Sherman's Army would follow and be supplied by till he took Atlanta in 1864:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_and_Atlantic_Railroad
http://railga.com/watl.html
http://railga.com/atlwp.html

Thus in the 1830s the only way to get supplies to an army in South Carolina was from local resources, (i.e. Georgie, Tennessee and North Carolina) or down the coast (and against the Gulf Stream, thus any ship had to go almost to Europe, then south then West to the Caribbean, then take the Gulf Stream to South Carolina, it was faster then fighting the Gulf Stream in the days of sail).

While the SS Savannah had used Steam in 1818 (and then converted to an all sailing vessel), the next ship to do so was in 1847 due to the need to increase the size of the ship to carry the engine and the fuel. Now Steamboats quickly became popular on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, but those ships were NOT useful on the coast:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Savannah

Thus in the 1830s the only way to put down South Carolina was with with assistance of Georgie, Tennessee and North Carolina, and all three wanted one thing, Cherokee lands. Jackson does NOT seem to formally make such an agreement, but it was understood that Georgie, Tennessee and North Carolina would support Jackson only if they were given a free hand as to the Cherokees. Thus the Nullification Crisis is tied in with the Cherokee removal. If you wanted one, you had to support the other. Either South Carolina won (and the Cherokees kept their land for a few more years) OR the Cherokee lose their lands and South Carolina nullification move is suppressed. South Carolina quickly saw how Georgie, Tennessee and North Carolina were acting and that Jackson was giving them what they wanted and thus gave in, but Jackson had already paid the price to suppress South Carolina and that price was the Cherokees who remained in Georgie, Tennessee and North Carolina.

I like this quote from Jackson on the Nullification Crisis:
On May 1, 1833 Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only a pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nullification_Crisis#Negotiation_and_Confrontation_.281833.29

The real significance of the above was it was the first crisis to hit Jackson after he had won re-election AND defeated the Bank of the United States. South Carolina seems to have been counting on supporters of the bank to rally to their cause, but they did not. WIth Jackson's re-election the Bank of the United States had tried to make money tight to force Congress to override Jackson's veto, but it quickly became clear that the bank was doing more harm then good and whatever support the Bank had disappeared. Thus South Carolina had lost whatever hope it had for support outside of its own borders and gave in on Nullification but at the price of the Cherokee losing their lands in Georgie, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Jackson vs the Bank of the United States:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_War

[John2]

17. That is what

I would be waiting for. This she sign this into law? Let's see what President Obama and Eric Holder will do. I would put them in jail in a minute. And if the South Carolina State Police try anything, I would put them in jail too. Federal Law supercede State Law. If Obama and Holder let them get away with it, then other states would try it. He needs to make an example out of these people. I think he got the right to do it. and I would do the same to Lindsey Graham if he intefered with Justice. If I was Obama I would be happy to do it. I think there are people in South Carolina would be glad to get rid of these people too.

And they don't even have near half the state behind them. Obama won 20 of South Carolina's counties while Romney won 25.

[obamanut2012]

35. Hley should be arrested and pulled from office if she signs this

I am sick of these racist idiots.

ACA has problems, but the only thing they care about is the black part of Obama's biracialness.

[Politicub]

19. The only people this hurts are the citizens of South Carolina

The legislators introducing this bill have their health care, but would deny it to tens of thousands of South Carolina's citizens.

I will never understand the mentality that leads to such draconian legislation.

[oldbanjo]

20. This just shows the stupidity of politians in

SC, I wish I lived in a Blue State.

[atreides1]

22. That's only partly true

It also shows the stupidity of the majority of the people of South Carolina...face it you can't have stupid politicians without stupid voters!!!

[wildbilln864]

23. god damn my state is so full of idiots!

[Chakab]

24. Sweet Jesus, I've have enough of this stupidity.

I hope the world really is going to end on Friday.

[mysuzuki2]

25. I thought John C Calhoun was dead. Jeez.

[Brigid]

28. You win. eom

[Third Doctor]

29. A federal law supersedes any state law.

This law would violate federal law. The civil war supposedly fixed the whole states rights thing but I guess SC forgot that.

[struggle4progress]

30. I guess they're really excited by the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, but I didn't expect

they'd actually introduce a "Freedom from Health Care" bill

[Bette]

31. States rights??

Now you see, this is one of the many reasons we cannot give 'power' back to the states. They are all trying to outdo the next in stupid legislation. Not to mention, half of them trying to secede from the union! We can end up with 50 little 'territories' with their own private dictators in charge. That will go over well when we have to pay to get into and out of that state, ask the road drivers...new toll roads will sprout up...maybe even the need for 'papers' to proceed thru some. The possibilities are endless and the nightmares may just beginning...

[aquart]

32. Do they have NO education in that state?

[obamanut2012]

36. No really

SC really is pretty bad, and it's a shame. Such a pretty state.

[Quantess]

33. Wow, that's pretty dumb.

My condolences to South Carolinians.

[beerandjesus]

40. The food, at least, is great!

[Historic NY]

38. Really...

have they learned nothing since losing in 1865.

[sinkingfeeling]

39. I think it's just wonderful that S. Carolina has 5 people so much smarter than the SCOTUS!

And they have set themselves up as above the laws of the United States. If only each and every state could find such geniuses and elect them to office! Just think of how much better off every person in the country could be.

[undeterred]

43. Freedom of Health Care

These people are brilliant.

[JoePhilly]

44. "I'm gonna hold my breath unitl the black guy leaves office!!!"

[and-justice-for-all]

45. That is vial...nt

[VAliberal]

46. James Petigru had it right in 1860

"South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum."

I was raised in SC. My family lives there. Petigru's statement is, for me, one of life's axiomatic truths.

[jzodda]

48. If the law is passed SC should be punished

Sure it will hurt the poor there but it will (hopefully) motivate their citizens to come out of the civil war era and join the rest of the country.

So if it passes no federal dollars to that state for anything. Not one cent. Since SC is one of THOSE states that the rich blue states have to subsidize with our tax dollars because they are a mess down there, they will get even more poor and useless.

Then their citizens will throw out the rethuglicans who run the state and SC can start to come out of the dark ages.