TexasCHLforum.com

Car Insurance:
As has already been (correctly) stated the mandate in Texas is proof of financial responsibility. A person may as well carry a notarized letter from their bank saying they have a sufficient trust set up or a card from their company establishing they are self insured. But either way, the mandate falls under the governments role of protecting the rights of other drivers/travelers. If you chose to drive as your means of travel you are responsible for controlling a hurdling piece of metal weighing thousands of pounds. If you fail to control that missile you can potentially deprive me of my right to life, property and or the pursuit of happiness.
The governments role is to protect our national security and our rights. When I was learning to drive, you left notes if you bumped a car (I actually went to knock on a door once after a moment of inattention at 16) then you figured out between you what the damages were and what was needed to make it right. As that mentality went to the wayside, as the number of undocumented drivers increased, as more and more self-serving people would rather leave you in a lurch then take responsibility, the government was forced to step in to protect the rest of us. Since you can't regulate attitudes, you regulate outcome by establishing penalties. They are having to increase penalties because the fear of the consequence has not been sufficient to mitigate the irresponsible behaviors to a sufficient level. Now you can have your vehicle confiscated for not having insurance...expensive. But a comparison between this mandate and health care is a non sequitor.

Health Insurance:
In passing this health care bill, a small minority of uninsured (and by this I mean those that could not get or afford coverage) will now have insurance. There are millions that are either illegal aliens, chose to mooch of the existing system or are healthy enough they pay cash when they visit a doctor or ER (BTW, it is amazing how the bill is discounted when they realize you are paying cash).
Now, under this system the people will be forced to buy insurance or be fined on their returns. In my daughter's and son-in-law's case, they make a decent living but the health insurance available to them is way expensive, so they have an emergency fund. They eat healthy foods and use homeopathic remedies when appropriate. BTW, you may as well say good bye to your health supplements as they will now be under regulation (read restriction) by the government owned insurance complex. Anyway, people on a budget will be further penalized because they can't afford the outrageous plans.
The argument has been made that you can still buy private insurance, let's look at that. The companies are now restricted from exclusion or preclusion which will throw the actuarial tables upside down. The cost of doing business will increase as they will be paying out more and more in claims. They will have to raise premiums even for the most basic of coverages, ration or collapse. They will be priced out of the market and the government company will soon have a cornered market. And now we have a government run industry that is a large portion of our economy.
This is not health care reform, this is insurance reform/takeover. History shows us that a fascist government starts by taking over private industry. Banks, automotive, now health care. How does this effect guns?

Winston Churchill said what history has established, "No socialist system can be established without a political police."