Prescott Daily Courier Op-Ed: Obamacare: It's not about your health

Obamacare: It's not about your health
By REP. PAUL GOSAR

Although Americans were told there was a medical crisis that only nationalized health care could solve, Obamacare was never truly about your health. Indeed, putting a bureaucrat between you and your doctor is not good for your health. Obamacare was about government control over a large sector of the economy, and intrusion into your most private and sensitive information. This is why I voted three times for Obamacare's full repeal, and over 30 times to defund it. Obamacare was about the largest non-wartime tax hike in U.S. history. And Obamacare put the IRS in charge of it all.

Given the IRS scandals coming to light over the past few weeks, Americans of all political stripes should be concerned about the healthcare law.

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee, of which I am Arizona's only member, exposed the dangerous potential of the new and expanded powers given to the IRS under Obamacare. In several Oversight hearings, Congress and the American people have learned of the IRS' history of using leaks, delays, targeting, and intimidation to punish American citizens based on their politics.

The track record of the Obama Administration and the IRS shows a brazen willingness to abuse its power. The IRS could use its newfound Obamacare powers to target its political opponents. If past experience is any guide, this is cause for concern.

Leading this assault on liberty has been Sarah Hall Ingram, the same government official previously in charge of the IRS unit that targeted and discriminated against conservative and Christian groups solely for their political ideology. Ms. Ingram should resign immediately.

An IRS that does not respect people's constitutional rights is not likely to respect medical privacy either.

Maybe the IRS delays your premium payment when you need a surgery, or it leaks information about your visits to a psychiatrist. These expanded powers put the agency in a position to do harm.

Last year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report showing all the bureaucratic offices within the IRS charged with implementing Obamacare. It was rather telling when nowhere in the report did the words "patient" or "doctor" appear. Why? The president's health care law is about government power and control.

The IRS gets to enforce the mandate to buy health insurance. Given their record, who would want the IRS involved in personal medical decisions?

Well, Obamacare advocates and apologists not only want to control that medical decision, they want to use the IRS to enforce that control.

The battle over Obamacare is about who controls your life. The battle over Obamacare is also about your freedom. President Obama wants you to have less, and eventually none.

For example, will people who choose not to buy insurance under the Obamacare mandate be subjected to government audits? Or worse, will people who choose not to buy insurance find themselves subjected to jail time? Both are possible.

We must repeal Obamacare once and for all.

Now is not the time to give the government more authority, especially in light of the recent scandals showing how the government abused its existing powers.

Now is the time for Congress to strip the IRS of any proximity to your healthcare and coverage.

Now is the time to stand up for liberty and fight back against the spreading tentacles of big government in your life.

U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar is a Republican from Arizona's Fourth Congressional District and a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

To view this op-ed in the Prescott Daily Courier click HERE.