After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the legality of Obamacare, which is grossly mislabeled as the Affordable Care Act, many Americans don’t have a clue that another nail has been driven into the coffin of freedom.

What amazes me the most is that those who support Obamacare truly believe that health care in America will become a free benefit of living in our once-great nation. But nothing the government does is free because someone has to pay for excesses that government creates for itself in the name of giving the average citizen a reward for voting for those who are willing to rob the Treasury.

Wednesday was July 4th, the historic day some 236 years ago that the Founding Fathers of the United States of America stood in defiance of the King of England with the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, our President, Congress and even some voters have long forgotten the principles of independence that hallowed American document aims to protect.

I believe that every elected official in the America should read the Declaration of Independence every day they hold elected office because it’s obvious that many have forgotten why this document came to be in the first place.

Take for instance the paragraph that states, “For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.” I remember that President Obama said that his health care act would not impose a tax on all Americans. The Supreme Court ruling that proclaimed that Obamacare was constitutional was based on the fact that Congress could tax us and thus Obamacare was not a mandate but a tax. Maybe the President, Congress and the Supreme Court should all be replaced. To me, they are no different than the King of England in 1776.

Another paragraph of the Declaration states, “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” If you don’t get health insurance by 2014, you will find out what that means.

Another paragraph of the Declaration states, “He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance.” Just look at how the federal government squashed most of Arizona’s attempt at stopping illegal immigrants from living in Arizona.

Yet another paragraph of the Declaration states, “He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.” Didn’t the federal government state that Arizona could ask people if they were American citizens with no expectation of help from the federal government?

Yet another paragraph states, “He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.” The U.S. House of Representatives held Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress and yet the U.S. Justice Department will do nothing on those serious charges of civil and criminal contempt.

I have to conclude that our laws pertain to us and not our government.

All of this might seem like a stretch but look at what our government has done to us in the name of protecting us from ourselves. Seat-belt laws and no-smoking laws are just the beginning. In Maine, we can’t get a driver’s license without a birth certificate and proof where we physically reside. Too bad that doesn’t apply to the President of the United States.

I noticed that multiple websites are reporting that 40,000 new laws were passed in our country in 2011 and that wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Cities in California are banning trans fats while the mayor of New York City has banned sodas larger than 16 ounces.

Maybe something you like will be banned next?

Lane Hiltunen, of Windham, believes politicians should have one six-year term.