In Defense of Liberty

The Honorable Rick Perry

Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Dear Governor,

As you are no doubt aware, the United States Supreme Court just upheld one of the most egregious usurpations of State and Individual Liberty in American History.  By declaring the Individual Mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the Act) a tax, they did not merely uphold this tyrannical statute, they did so while directly contradicting themselves (if it were really a tax, rules state they cannot rule on the law until the tax has gone into effect) as well as the law itself (the word “tax” never occurs regarding the Mandate).

By upholding the Act, the Supreme Court has effectively decided that it is within the purview of the Federal Government to levy a tax on breathing.  The individual mandate, as you know, is not a tax on voluntary economic activity.  Rather it is a tax on voluntary economic inactivity.  Simply being alive and choosing not to carry an insurance policy is enough to force you to pay the tax.  This is not true of any other tax.  Income taxes are not owed if you make no income; they tax economic activity, not economic inactivity.  Sales taxes are not owed if you do not purchase anything; they tax economic activity, not economic inactivity.  Cigarette taxes and gasoline taxes are similar examples; to avoid the taxes, do not engage in the proscribed economic activity.

This is a perversion of everything our forefathers fought to achieve.  It is tyrannical and unjust.  The Act is blatantly unconstitutional, and the Court has ignored the constitution in deference to its precious “precedent.”

Mr. Governor, we, the people of Texas, have nowhere else to turn.  Our congressional leaders have failed us.  The Courts of the United States have failed us.  I humbly beseech that the State of Texas defend us from this tyrannical overreach.

To that end, I would ask that the State of Texas act in the following ways:

1)      That no State resources be used to enforce this act of tyranny.

2)      That the State would officially affirm, via legislation, the same.

3)      That the State act to shield those persons who refuse to comply with this tyranny from the Federal Authority.

Mr. Governor, I understand what I’m asking.  I understand that this would be a huge and possibly irreversible step.  I understand that it is a gamble and, to some extent, “asking for trouble.”  Nevertheless, I believe it to be the right course.  I believe that the Natural Rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are not outmoded ideas.  I believe the rights upheld in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights are not antiquated notions.  And I believe that they must be vigorously defended.

With Sincere Respect,