Washita Valley Weekly

Page 8   Washita Valley Weekly “My Community Magazine” January 19, 2022 God Bless America SAVE 7 DAYS AWEEK Mon - Sat 10 - 7 Sun 1 - 6 3420 S 4th CHICKASHA 405-825-3510 25% OFF NEVER PAY RETAIL AGAIN! 15% OFF Flexsteel Furniture SPLIT DECISION! On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court(SCOTUS) ruled unconstitutional President Joe Biden’s executive order requiring large businesses (more than 100 employees) to insure their employees were vaccinated and tested. “Although Congress has indisputably given Occupational Safety and Health Administration( OSHA) the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly. Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category,” the majority opinion said. The vote was 6-3 with the three liberal justices - Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagen - dissenting. In the minority opinion, the three wrote: “When we are wise, we know not to displace the judgments of experts, acting within the sphere Congress marked out and under Presidential control, to deal with emer- gency conditions,” they wrote. “Today, we are not wise. In the face of a still-raging pandemic, this Court tells the agency charged with protecting worker safety that it may not do so in all the workplaces needed. As disease and death continue to mount, this Court tells the agency that it cannot respond in the most effec- tive way possible.” In a second ruling regarding vaccine mandates, the SCOTUS allowed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to require health care workers to be vaccinated at facilities that receive federal mon- ies. In that case, the vote was 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining the three liberals (who vote as a block) to form the majority. The majority opinion concluded the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) routinely imposes conditions of participation (COPs) relating to the qualifications and duties of healthcare workers. They said the vaccine mandate fell into the duties of HHS. Three observations: First, the SCOTUS got the OSHA ruling correct. Telling private employers, the conditions of employ- ment (COPs) for their employees is not a function of the federal government. The feds are already overreg- ulating private business to death. Establishing guidelines on workplace safety is why OSHA was created in 1970, but requiring employee jabs has never been a function of that agency. Biden’s executive order was over the top- even for the federal government. Second, the SCOTUS got the HHS ruling wrong. Holding hospitals hostage by withholding federal monies if workers don’t get vaccinated is nothing short of extortion. Healthcare workers should have the same liberty and choice as the private sector employees in the OSHA case. They should be allowed to make up their own mind about the vaccine in the same way. This ruling will create more pressure on the health care system in the U.S. as hospital operators across the country expect it will create manpower short- ages. Third, the split decision by the SCOTUS on similar cases is puzzling. Why did Justices Roberts and Kavanaugh vote for liberty for some Americans, but not others? They cited the authority/mission of the federal agency - HHS - as their justification for requiring the jab for healthcare workers. Were the ‘rights’ of Americans working in the healthcare sector considered? It appears not. When the high court places the duties/mission of a federal bureaucratic agency over the rights of individual Americans, they are violating their commitment to rule based on the Constitution. America’s republic system of self-government empowers individual citizens. The United States govern- ment is given power by the people, not the other way around. The founding document - the Constitution - is the rule book. It states every American has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When a citizen’s rights or liberty is taken away - for whatever purpose - it violates the rule book. When the liberty of one is taken away for the overall good of the whole, America ceases to be America. Steve Fair is Chairman of the 4th district of the Oklahoma Republican Party. He can be reached by email at steve.fair@ymail.com. His blog is stevefair.blogspot.com. Fair and Biased A conservative view of national, state, and local politics by Steve Fair Chairman, 4th District Oklahoma Republican Party by Pastor Lynn Walker - Cowboy Country Church 4092 Norge Road - 405-320-0055 Light or Darkness  The life of Jesus is like a double sided coin. On one hand He is the Son of Man; on the other hand He is the Son of God, and both sides are valid because Jesus was completely both at the same time!! In the Gospel of John, his purpose is very clear: to explain and show the side of Jesus that was “the Son of God”. Being very evangelistic, the Gospel of John revolves around the miracles and the “I am” statements of Christ!! John set forth the deity of Christ to stir up believing faith in our Lord. One of the most famous scriptures from the bible is of course John 3:16 where our Lord said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not per- ish, but have everlasting life. He also spoke in verses 3:18-21 about living in Light or Darkness. Para- phrased it says, “If you believe in Jesus and live in His Light, you are not condemned: But if you do not believe in Jesus, you are condemned already because you do not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ. And this is the condem- nation, that Light (Jesus Christ) has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil and did not line up with the Word of God. Every one that does wrong hates the Light, and neither comes to the Light because his deeds would be exposed. But he that does good comes to the Light, that his deeds are made known, and are worked in God”!!! Believing and living in the Light of God’s truth or believing and dying in the darkness of Satan’s lies is a choice. I pray you have chosen wisely. In His Word, Love, and Power, Pastor Lynn