The Individual Mandate and the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," is the idea that citizens should be required to have health insurance or otherwise pay a certain penalty. The Affordable Care Act is essentially making all Americans able to afford health insurance. “One of the goals of the ACA, often called the Affordable Care Act… is to reduce the cost of health care and make it available to more people.” (Will the Affordable Care Act improve health care in the United States?). The ACA was signed into law in March 2010 and is currently underway. While the Affordable Care Act potentially has some positive effects, such as offering affordable health insurance to uninsured Americans; the law also provides that “Section 1342 of the ACA makes taxpayers responsible for bailing out insurance companies if the need arises.” (MacKenzie, Tragic Problems with the (Un)Affordable Care Act). Although taxpayers are legally obligated to fund federal programs like the ACA, there are many who do not believe this is fiscally responsible. “Economist Laurence Kotlikoff estimates that average tax rates would need to rise 56% to cover expected increases in federal spending.” (MacKenzie, Tragic Problems with the (Un)Affordable Care Act). Therefore American taxpayers will never be able to provide the increases expected in this federal program, making national bankruptcy much more likely. Senator Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts, said that: “States should not be forced by the federal government to adopt a one-size-fits-all health plan; the health needs of each state are different." Senator Brown is right: the ACA health program does not adapt to the differential needs of different states, and each state has different factors that play into the roles of their health programs. Thomas Miller, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, also has opposing views regarding the relationship between the Affordable Care Act and government health programs. “Miller asserts that the ACA will undermine the development of free market dynamics in health insurance and force states to adhere to federal dictates. At first, he says, states might be able to shape their own insurance exchanges through which people buy health coverage. But that's simply because Washington made some "concessions" to states to get them to support the law, he says. Once the new health care regime is deeply entrenched, he predicts, “the long-term dynamics will largely lead to Washington being in control rather than having open markets”” (Clemmitt, Assessing the New Health Care