# The Cooch thinks he's going to sue America if health care passes - what is it with this butthole? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 18, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838 "2010-03-18T02:38:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/21 "2010-03-18T03:45:00Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I think **Dio** started this whole thread because he likes typing “The Cooch”. Perv. That is only like 60% of the reason. Ok, 80%. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/22 "2010-03-18T03:45:41Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Whens the last time you got to choose whether your tax dollars are spent on tanks or not? > [@Piker](#): > > Yes. It’s called “taxes”. Don’t be scared. > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Since when is this news? If this were not settled law, you would not be collecting SSDI benefits. None of these things are the same as the government forcing me to buy their health insurance. I’m aware that I’ll be paying for it thru my taxes, but I do hope that I will not also be forced to actually buy a policy as well. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/23 "2010-03-18T03:46:08Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Wow, this little essay would cause you to fail any 8th grade civics course. And it’s interesting how you get the limits of federal power wrong in both directions (i.e., one part incorrectly overstates it while another part incorrectly understates it). > > Here’s some help: > > 1. The federal government is NOT empowered to do things for the general welfare. > > 2. The federal government can do more than just regulate commerce that goes across state lines. The interstate commerce clause has been interpreted to allow the federal government to pass any regulation that would affect interstate commerce. In the most famous case on this, the Court held that the federal government could regulation how much wheat a farmer grows for his own consumption because it affects how much wheat goes into interstate commerce. Stick to tax law counselor. First of all, the federal constitution gives general welfare power in at least two places. Second, I never said the feds couldn’t regulate anything affecting interstate commerce there is a long line of cases saying they can. The three constitutional attacks I see as possible are the mandate on individuals, reconciliation and “pass and deem” which I hadn’t even heard of until this last week. Reconciliation is the weakest of those arguments in my humble opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/24 "2010-03-18T03:46:16Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Exactly. That’s the point. You don’t know what the lawsuit is yet, and you’ve already decided it’s a stupid lawsuit. I’m going out on a limb. From what he’s indicated, he has no grievance. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/25 "2010-03-18T03:47:58Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Really? The government can force me to spend money on something that _they_ think I need? Scary. ☹ Of course. Show me where the Constitution say it can’t. You already have to buy auto insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/26 "2010-03-18T03:49:19Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > None of these things are the same as the government forcing me to buy their health insurance. I’m aware that I’ll be paying for it thru my taxes, but I do hope that I will not also be forced to actually buy a policy as well. Do you drive a car? ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/27 "2010-03-18T03:51:20Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Is an also ran: > [Idaho first to sign law aimed at health care plan](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100317/ap_on_go_co/us_health_overhaul_states) > Like Idaho spuds, it’s hard to top Idaho nuts. According to the AARP it will cost us over a billion in federal funds, hundreds of jobs, millions more to fight in court and we’ll lose the fight anyway. Too bad I will not be around to see it because I lost my insurance, my paceer/defibrillator is dying and I don’t have upwords of one hundred thousand dollars to replace it. I’ve told my hubby to send the sactimious asshole who introducted that bill my ashes. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/28 "2010-03-18T03:53:41Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Do you drive a car? The guy who wrote ours fucked it up so bad that now Idahoans won’t be required to carry liability insurance either without a lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/29 "2010-03-18T03:56:36Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Of course. Show me where the Constitution say it can’t. You already have to buy auto insurance. Last I checked, that isn’t true - you can also put up a bond. Plus, you are only required to cover what you might do to others, not what you might do to yourself. Again, unless things have changed. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/30 "2010-03-18T03:59:37Z")
[The impeccable partisan pedigree of “deem and Pass”](http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joe_conason/2010/03/17/ornstein/index.html) Republicans have used “Deem and Pass” more than 100 times since 1994. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/31 "2010-03-18T04:04:35Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Last I checked, that isn’t true - you can also put up a bond. Plus, you are only required to cover what you might do to others, not what you might do to yourself. A couple of irrelevant distinctions without any Constitutional significance. Sorry, but the Constitutution doesn’t prevent the federal government from forcing you to buy health insurance, and the federal government can do anything the Consititution doesn’t forbid it from doing. This angle is a complete non-starter until you can show what Constitutional right you think is being violated (here’s a hint: It’s none). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/32 "2010-03-18T04:05:49Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Of course. Show me where the Constitution say it can’t. You already have to buy auto insurance. Yes, but it is the state government that requires automobile insurance. The federal government is a government of limited powers that are enumerated in the federal constitution. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/33 "2010-03-18T04:07:10Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > and the federal government can do anything the Consititution doesn’t forbid it from doing. WTF? Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/34 "2010-03-18T04:07:46Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Yes, but it is the state government that requires automobile insurance. The federal government is a government of limited powers that are enumerated in the federal constitution. No it isn’t, but this is a common misconception. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/35 "2010-03-18T04:08:56Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > WTF? Cite? The Consitution. If it’s not unconstitutinal, it’s Constitutional. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/36 "2010-03-18T04:11:12Z")
Thank you. I’ll have to remember that. It is very enlightening. Like Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/37 "2010-03-18T04:22:03Z")
Headlines **Obama Rebukes The Cooch!** Entertainment news: Michele Obama and Dr. Phil, special 4 hour emergency Oprah marathon… ---
**Author:** ![Piker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@Piker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Piker)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/38 "2010-03-18T04:33:36Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > None of these things are the same as the government forcing me to buy their health insurance. I’m aware that I’ll be paying for it thru my taxes, but I do hope that I will not also be forced to actually buy a policy as well. This is frustrating, because you a) recognize that the Constitution give the federal government the power to tax and spend for the general welfare, and b) acknowledge that the way the proposed individual mandate will be enforced is through a tax imposed on those without insurance. Yet you still, in a very imprecise and unclear way, express a worry that this may be unconstitutional. How? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/39 "2010-03-18T04:52:32Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > What is your evidence for this proposition? He just said that state colleges could not include sexual orientation etc. in their discrimination policies. He isn’t encouraging any state college to actually discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, etc. Exactly. And passing a law that says it is specifically legally okay to rape your daughters doesn’t encourage anyone to do that. :rolleyes: You’re a fucking idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838/40 "2010-03-18T04:56:42Z")
> [@Piker](#): > > This is frustrating, because you > > a) recognize that the Constitution give the federal government the power to tax and spend for the general welfare, and > > b) acknowledge that the way the proposed individual mandate will be enforced is through a tax imposed on those without insurance. > > Yet you still, in a very imprecise and unclear way, express a worry that this may be unconstitutional. How? this is curlcoat. she thinks that helping indigent people with healthcare is impermissible government welfare, but sitting on her ass and doing her double-chin exercises while she collects SSDI is merely her recovery of an insurance program she paid for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cooch-thinks-hes-going-to-sue-america-if-health-care-passes-what-is-it-with-this-butthole/532838.md?page=3)