For the first time in the history of our Republic - on a vote of 220-215 Congress has said that to maintain your liberty as a citizen you will be required to purchase something which has been approved by that very government.

What kind of freedom is that?

The Health Care bill which just passed the House of Representatives requires all citizens to purchase health insurance or face upwards fines and up to 5 years in prison. Yes, you read correctly. It will be a felony to not have health insurance. No longer will you be able to vote, no longer will you be able to own a gun, no longer will you have your most fundamental rights. All because you did not purchase still broken health insurance.

That my friends is not freedom.

Our current health care system is obviously broken but requires real, honest reforms. Yet rather than address the current health care market distortions imposed by flawed government policies, H.R. 3962 merely expands Washington’s heavy hand and exacerbates that which is already broken in health care.

The bill includes fundamental changes to the American health care system – creating a public health insurance option to compete with private insurers and for the first time, requiring employers to offer health insurance.

This legislative measure is front loaded with taxes, and back-loaded with spending in the first ten years. Since most of the spending in the House bill does not fully go into effect until 2014, the 10-year cost estimates based on the preliminary CBO score (for years 2010 through 2019) only account for six years of new spending under the plan. Once it is implemented (over a full 10-year window from years 2014 to 2023), the giant House health bill carries a price tag of $2.4 trillion.

This massive expansion of the federal government’s role in the delivery of health care relies heavily on a number of mandates and tax penalties. H.R. 3962 will impose $729.5 billion in new taxes on families, employers and workers.

Yet the battle is not yet over. The path ahead remains shaky – for the bill and for many of the Democrats who voted to approve it. Make your voices heard. Let those who represent you that what Americans want are common-sense, responsible solutions that address the rising cost of health care and other major problems.

Let them know that the Democratic plan is neither a responsible nor common-sense approach to reform. In fact, it carries with it serious constitutional issues that should worry any American.

Be heard.