The ongoing debate about the Affordable Health Care Act — aka “Obamacare” — has elicited much comment by readers of this paper.

Those who support the act argue that health care is a “right,” with the government responsible for ensuring that anyone without insurance or the means to pay for it must be provided coverage at taxpayer expense. Those opposed believe there is a better way to provide greater access to health care without bankrupting the country with another expensive entitlement.

We who make the latter argument typically have our positions on the issue distorted and misrepresented by liberals who advocate a universal right to health care. They routinely treat Republicans and conservatives as the “enemy” and use invective and falsehoods to demean the motives of anyone who dares to disagree with them. Case in point is the way the media have treated tea party rallies, alleging that the tea party is racist for opposing Barack Obama’s policies on health care and excessive government spending.

President Obama has followed a practice of sidelining and marginalizing his opponents since he began running for public office. That practice continues with his smear campaign against presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Demeaning political opponents, engaging in class warfare, pandering to unions and interest groups, expanding dependency on the federal government, and inciting envy and even hatred of the country’s most productive and successful people are right out of “Rules for Radicals” — the playbook of Chicago-based community organizer Saul Alinsky — and part of the Democrat strategy to maintain control of government.

With the implementation of “Obamacare,” the country is heading down the road of fiscal ruin. The unfortunate Supreme Court decision upholding the act under Congress’ taxing power will only accelerate this path to fiscal insolvency. California should be a warning for those who think the country has enough money to pay for all the entitlement programs. California is $16 billion in debt. That amount, multiplied by one thousand, represents the federal debt. Gov. Jerry Brown, following Obama’s lead, wants to increase taxes on the rich, saying, like Willie Sutton when asked why he robbed banks, “That’s where the money is.”

Taxing the rich for all of their assets would put barely a dent in the debt, either at the state or national level. California, with its excessive regulations, bloated bureaucracy, powerful labor unions and onerous pension liabilities, is the canary in the national coal mine.

At least the federal government is able to print more money. We can continue to float more debt as long as countries like China are willing to buy our bonds. The time will come when China and other debt holders will demand higher interest rates on bonds before they will buy them. At that point interest on the national debt will increase to staggering levels, with consequences too dire to contemplate — higher mortgage rates, inflation and another recession that will make the one from which we are so slowly emerging seem like a minor blip in the history of national economic downturns.

Republicans in Congress, led by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, recognize that the country must be put on a more sustainable fiscal footing to avoid eventual bankruptcy. Adding another entitlement, i.e., “Obamacare,” is a recipe for disaster. Republicans acknowledge the need to assist the most disadvantaged in society. The best way to do this is to make reasonable changes to Social Security and Medicare to ensure those programs will be available to future generations and to provide those without health insurance an affordable means of obtaining health care — e.g., federal vouchers for individuals and grants to the states for catastrophic insurance. The wrong way to do it is for the president and his allies to demonize their political opponents and create greater societal rifts in order to maximize their hold on the reins of power.