Saturday, January 02, 2010

That inconvenient Constitution again - From Opinion Journal, the subtitle says it all: "Why the health-care bills are unconstitutional - If the government can mandate the purchase of insurance, it can do anything." Oh, you're gonna eat that spinach, mister.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's an open spot on the picket line, right in between the guy who says Social Security is unconstitutional and the guy who says retroactive telecom immunity is unconstitutional, in front of the guy who says the Patriot Act is unconstitutional, and behind the guy who says Medicare is unconstitutional. Right next to the guy who says recess appointments, the Electoral College, Washington D.C. taxation, "hate crime" legislation, executive signing statements, restrictions on guns, congressional districting, online sales tax, the Defense of Marriage Act, anti-polygamy laws and campaign finance reform are all unconstitutional.

In other words, rotsa ruck, Charlie. While you're waiting for judicial relief, you may as well look forward to health care reform being overturned when it gets caught in a seedy motel with a dead naked teen.

Eric said...

Oh, I don't know, it seems that any issue that united Orrin Hatch and Keith Olbermann has something to it.

I don't claim to be a legal scholar but if you look at United States v. Lopez, the Supreme Court has drawn a line on the Commerce clause. It can't be just whatever Congress wants it to be.

Anonymous said...

There's something to ALL of the cases. I'm just noting that waiting for something to be ruled unconstitutional mostly leads to disappointment. Even for violations far more cut and dried than the health care bill (e.g. telecom immunity, hate crime laws, campaign finance reform, gay marriage bans).

Gerald Ford once said, "An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history." Unfortunately, the same seems to go for constitutionalty.

Eric said...

That's a good quote - never heard that one before.