Five years ago, a movement began sweeping the nation. The Tea Party movement had sprung up a year earlier. The Democrats had absolute control over the House and the Senate and they had the White House.

The Tea Party movement brought to the national spotlight the call of the American people for less government. The American people said in no uncertain terms, they wanted Washington out of their lives. The stunning 2010 election victories by the Republicans were based on not only displeasure with the Democrats but also on the promises of the Republicans to restore small government.

In 2010 and in 2014, Republican after Republican came and bowed before the altar of small government. From now Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to House Speaker John Boehner and down the ranks, almost every Republican promised to shrink government. They promised to repeal Obamacare.

In Hawaii, the Obamacare exchange has imploded, despite $205 million in federal funding. Even the very blue state of Hawaii realizes this is a disaster and the state will not appropriate $28 million to help bail the exchange out.

The U.S. Supreme Court may well strike a death blow to Obamacare but the Republicans are already planning subsidies to last until 2017 for those who lose them. But as everyone knows, once a subsidy is created in Washington, it never ends.

Now a Republican doctor who is a member of Congress is trying to protect doctors from their screw-ups and imposing a massive big government solution. Rep. Tom Price from Georgia, a Republican who claims he supports smaller government, has introduced something called the “Empowering Patients First Act.” Among other things, Mr. Price wants to federalize medical malpractice cases. According to Mr. Price’s bill, in all medical malpractice cases, states will be forced to use medical guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Medical malpractice cases are traditionally the domain of the states. The Tenth Amendment specifically states that all powers not given to the federal government are reserved to the states.

As bad as Obamacare is, another big one size fits all solution from the government in Washington is just as bad. Perhaps it is even worse that this solution is coming from a Republican who allegedly believes in small government.

In 2010, medical mistakes killed 120,000 people in the United States. That same year, 31,000 Americans died from gunfire.

On average doctors kill four times as many people in a year than guns do.

When doctors are sued for malpractice, they have insurance that covers the bill and except in extraordinary circumstances, the doctor is not even disciplined.

The civil jury trial is the one remedy the average citizen has against a doctor gone bad. Doctors and their insurance carriers have done a good job of demonizing victims of medical malpractice and lawyers who represent people who die or are injured at the hands of doctors.

America’s founding fathers thought so highly of the jury trial, it is the only right specifically protected in the Bill of Rights twice. Cronyists like Mr. Price are only interested in protecting bad doctors and big insurance companies. America does not need more big government from Washington.

America needs more Republicans who believe in the U.S. Constitution and smaller government, and who are willing to say no to the cronyists in D.C.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.