• About Us
  • Activity
  • Advertising
  • Books
  • Business
  • Contact
  • EB5
  • Entertainment
  • feedback
  • Government
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • Members
  • National
  • Nevada
  • Nevada News and Views
  • Newsmax
  • NN&V Ads
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Polls
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Subscription Confirmation
  • Survey
  • Survey
  • Terms of Service
  • Today’s Top 10
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Welcome!
  • Yop Poll Archive
Nevada News and Views
  • Home
  • Muth’s Truths
  • Politics
  • Government
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Nevada
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Travel
    • News
    • Sports
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Pinterest

  • RSS

Featured Article

Republican Congress Opens New Assault on States’ Rights

Republican Congress Opens New Assault on States’ Rights
N&V Staff
April 12, 2017

(Chuck Muth) – Yeah, yeah, I know.  People have rights, not states.  But in case there’s any confusion about what we’re talking about here, I’ll let Ronald Reagan, from a 1980 speech, explain it…

“I still believe the answer to any problem lies with the people. I believe in states’ rights. I believe in people doing as much as they can for themselves at the community level and at the private level, and I believe we’ve distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended in the Constitution to that federal establishment.”

And while the nation under President Donald Trump is rediscovering the importance of the 10th Amendment and value of letting the citizens of the various states determine for themselves what to do on all manner of issues ranging from abortion to marriage to public bathrooms to legalized pot, the busy-bodies on Capitol Hill just can’t seem to get the message.

The new encroachment, tort reform, is an absolutely a dry, boring and complicated issue for most people, but it’s nonetheless extremely important.

H.R. 1215 is deceptively-named the “Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017” – much like the deceptively-named *Affordable* Care Act, aka ObamaCare – and is sponsored by conservative Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, who should know better.

In short, the bill pre-empts state caps on damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits and nationalizes them into a one-size-fits all regime.  Currently, 30 states already have their own caps and various limits on damage awards in place – including Nevada – while 18 others bar any such caps.

What this bill would do is scuttle those laws enacted by each of these individual states – the proverbial “laboratories of democracy” – and instead impose a Washington-knows-best blanket system for the entire country.  What could go wrong, right?

Believe me, I have no love for greedy, ambulance-chasing, slip-and-spill personal injury attorneys; however, this isn’t about that.  It’s about whether this issue should best be dealt with at the state or the federal level.

“To justify their efforts to nationalize medical malpractice law,” writes Prof. John Baker of Catholic University Law School about H.R. 1215, “House Republicans are stretching the Supreme Court’s New Deal Commerce Clause jurisprudence almost as far as Democrats did for ObamaCare. Both national medical malpractice reform and ObamaCare are radically at odds with our constitutional structure of federalism.”

“Congress has no business – and no authority under the Constitution – telling states what the rules should be governing medical malpractice claims,” adds Hans von Spakovsky of the conservative Heritage Foundation.  “Doctors are licensed by states, and state legislatures and state medical authorities have the authority to promulgate the standards of medical care in their states.”

Amen.  Let’s hope Nevada’s Members of Congress feel the same way about this newest over-reach by our overlords in Washington, DC.

(Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach and publisher of NevadaNewsandViews.com.)

Prev postNext post

Related ItemsFeatured ArticleGovernment
Featured Article
April 12, 2017
N&V Staff

Related ItemsFeatured ArticleGovernment

More in Featured Article

Buyers need 40% more income to purchase homes in top metro areas, report finds

The Center SquareMay 16, 2022
Read More

Falling water level reveals human remains at Lake Mead twice in one week

The Center SquareMay 11, 2022
Read More

So You Want to Know Where the Route 91 Harvest Festival Money Is?

N&V StaffMay 10, 2022
Read More

Democratic governor’s group pledges $75 million to reelect seven governors

The Center SquareMay 9, 2022
Read More

Lake Powell operators to withhold water to protect hydroelectric power

The Center SquareMay 5, 2022
Read More

More on the Nevada GOP’s Fouled-Up Pre-Primary Endorsement Process

N&V StaffMay 3, 2022
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Subscribe Free By Email

Looking for the best in breaking news and conservative views? Let Chuck do all the work for you! Subscribe to his FREE "Muth's Truths" e-newsletter.

* indicates required
Nevada News and Views
Nevada News & Views is an educational project of Citizen Outreach Foundation, a non-partisan IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. It is not associated or affiliated with any political party or group. Nevada News & Views is accessible by the public at no cost. It funds its operations through tax-deductible contributions from donors and supporters and does not accept government money or grants.

TAGS

Featured Article Nevada Politics business Muth's Truths government Government Opinion Obama Muth’s Truths Ron Knecht News Donald Trump GOP Republicans

Copyright © 2021 Citizen Outreach | Maintained by VirtualAlly

Indian Sugar Policies Justify U.S. Sugar Policy
Position on Sugar Trade Boils Down to Who Ya Gonna Trust