Dear Sens. Dan Akaka and Dan Inouye,

Several days ago, Sens. Jim DeMint and John Ensign challenged the constitutionality of the Senate version of the so-called health care bill. You were present during that conversation, and for the vote, I presume.

I am interested in your positions on this issue since, if any health care bill is passed and signed into law, I, as one of the 300 million people who are your bosses, must select a form of insurance under it. The bill states that unless I make this choice, I will be fined and charged accordingly.

“;Free”; in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is defined as “;not under the control of some other person or some arbitrary power; able to act or think without compulsion or arbitrary restriction; having liberty ...”;

The Declaration of Independence states in part, “;We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equally and that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”;

Compulsory insurance, under the guise of so-called health care bill, violates my freedom of choice, one or the other “;... inalienable rights ...,”; and, hence, my liberty.

How do you reconcile my liberty — my freedom of choice — with what you are proposing? We are a land of individuals, not a nation of communist socialists.

You, good men and women — and I hope that be the case — by passing this act will create a compulsion upon me under threat of government fines and God knows what else, do you not?

In a nutshell, how can you take away my freedom of choice?

On a second note, where within the document that you have sworn to defend, preserve and protect — specifically in Article I, Section 8, clauses 1 through 17 — have you been authorized to determine for me my doctor?

Where does it give you the explicit authority to devise for me my health outcomes? Where does it give to you the power to determine the kind and level of care I am given by my doctor?

Where does it give to you the freedom to have a board, the Independent Management Action Commission — I believe you call this IMAC — make decisions for me through forced insurance, the rationing of care due to cost effectiveness? Is my life of so little value to you?

Frankly, I wish not to have your kind of forced health care.

So, count me out, thank you. You have overstepped your bounds, those of the chains of the Constitution, and you'll be held accountable for your actions.

———

Ronald S. Carlson is a dentist in Waialae.