The Tipping Point

    Much has been written about the 2,700 pages of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of which Nancy Pelosi famously said before its passage, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."  I have posted several times recently about various proposed regulations regarding ObamaCare that are beginning to be issued at an increasing rate as implementation draws near.  Here is a passage from a single 81-page document containing some of those proposed regulations for the IRS, the Labor Department, and the Department of Health and Human Services:

    The Department of Labor regulations are proposed to be adopted pursuant to the authority contained in 29 U.S.C. 1027, 1059, 1135, 1161–1168, 1169, 1181–1183, 1181 note, 1185, 1185a, 1185b, 1185d, 1191, 1191a, 1191b, and 1191c; sec. 101(g), Public Law104–191, 110 Stat. 1936; sec. 401(b), Public Law 105–200, 112 Stat. 645 (42 U.S.C. 651 note); sec. 512(d), Public Law 110–343, 122 Stat. 3881; sec. 1001, 1201, and 1562(e), Public Law 111–148, 124 Stat. 119, as amended by Public Law 111–152, 124 Stat. 1029; Secretary of Labor’s Order 3–2010, 75 FR 55354 (September 10, 2010).
    The Department of Health and Human Services regulations are proposed to be adopted, with respect to 45 CFR Part 146, pursuant to the authority contained in sections 2702 through 2705, 2711 through 2723, 2791, and 2792 of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–1 through 300gg–5, 300gg–11 through 300gg–23, 300gg–91, and 300gg–92) prior to the amendments made by the Affordable Care Act and sections 2701 through 2763, 2791, and 2792 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg through 300gg-63, 300gg-91, and 300gg-92), as amended by the Affordable Care Act; with respect to 45 CFR Part 147, pursuant to the authority contained in sections 2701 through 2763, 2791, and 2792 of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg through 300gg–63, 300gg–91, and 300gg–92), as amended by the Affordable Care Act.

    Did you catch that?  Here, let me repeat it:

     The Department of Labor regulations are proposed to be adopted pursuant to the authority contained in 29 U.S.C. 1027, 1059, 1135, 1161–1168, 1169, 1181–1183, 1181 note, 1185, 1185a, 1185b, 1185d, 1191, 1191a, 1191b, and 1191c; sec. 101(g), Public Law104–191, 110 Stat. 1936; sec. 401(b), Public Law 105–200, 112 Stat. 645 (42 U.S.C. 651 note); sec. 512(d), Public Law 110–343, 122 Stat. 3881; sec. 1001, 1201, and 1562(e), Public Law 111–148, 124 Stat. 119, as amended by Public Law 111–152, 124 Stat. 1029; Secretary of Labor’s Order 3–2010, 75 FR 55354 (September 10, 2010).
    The Department of Health and Human Services regulations are proposed to be adopted, with respect to 45 CFR Part 146, pursuant to the authority contained in sections 2702 through 2705, 2711 through 2723, 2791, and 2792 of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–1 through 300gg–5, 300gg–11 through 300gg–23, 300gg–91, and 300gg–92) prior to the amendments made by the Affordable Care Act and sections 2701 through 2763, 2791, and 2792 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg through 300gg-63, 300gg-91, and 300gg-92), as amended by the Affordable Care Act; with respect to 45 CFR Part 147, pursuant to the authority contained in sections 2701 through 2763, 2791, and 2792 of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg through 300gg–63, 300gg–91, and 300gg–92), as amended by the Affordable Care Act.

    If ObamaCare is not the tipping point for government overreach, then the beast may have grown too large to ever tip.  The very idea that anyone could even write the above paragraphs and retain his sanity, much less that anyone could ever hope to decipher, understand, and enforce the regulations, is ludicrous.  It is difficult to say what can be done to move the public to revolt against this nonsense.  Perhaps the Congress should pass a bill requiring doctors' offices to hand out a copy of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (and accompanying regulations) to each patient to read along with the unavoidable clipboard of documents to read, fill out and sign that every doctor requires.

    Or will the answer come through the wallet from where most revolutions trace their origins?  I noticed this sign which, from the date, was posted shortly after ObamaCare passed in 2010:

    Doctors, as altruistic as we would like to believe them to be, are in the business to make money, without which they cannot stay in business.  Whatever a 2,700 page law (and accompanying regulations) might say, there will always be loopholes.  How much of the American people's money will have to be sucked into those loopholes before Washington hears a collective "Enough!"?