Posted on 12/13/2010 1:50:42 PM PST by jazminerose
Joy Tiz ©2010
District Judge Henry Hudson affirmed what should be patently obvious to anyone with the feeblest familiarity with the U.S. Constitution. Judge Hudson ruled that ObamaCare “exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power.”
Regrettably, the court refused to issue an injunction preventing implementation of ObamaCare. Judge Hudson reasoned that the coverage mandate could be severed from the rest of the law.
Health care stocks have already responded.
"U.S. health-care stocks extended gains after the ruling. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Health Care Index rose 0.5 percent at 12 p.m. New York time. UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Coventry Health Care Inc. led gains."
Injunctive relief would be nice, but extinguishing the coverage mandate effectively weakens the rest of the monstrous legislation. Ironically, the court held that invalidating the mandate does not require the extermination of the entire law because there are so many extraneous, non health care related provisions and riders attached.
In his ruling, Judge Hudson pointed out that he’s not commenting on the “wisdom” of Congress in passing this junk; the sole issue before the court was the constitutionality of the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision. Thus, the plaintiff’s question was only as to the legality of the law, not how incredibly awful it is.
The court also held, correctly, that the administration’s belated attempt to call the insurance mandate a “tax” is nonsensical.
In essence, the Obama administration wanted the matter to turn on their Utopian delusions about the potential outcomes of a government run health care system, rather than on the constitutionality. Liberals always want you to focus on their stated intent and ignore the tyranny inherent in their grand schemes.
Overall, Judge Hudson bases his ruling on sound constitutional principles, citing Article 1, Section 8 which confers upon congress only discrete enumerated governmental powers.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/255159/breaking-virginia-judge-rules-individual-mandate-unconstitutional-daniel-foster
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-13/u-s-health-care-law-requirement-thrown-out-by-judge.html
. http://michellemalkin.cachefly.net/michellemalkin.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/VAObamacaredecision.pdf
“Regrettably, the court refused to issue an injunction preventing implementation of ObamaCare.”
The Supremes will take care of it. I know some think they won’t, but they will. If they don’t, it really will be pitchfork time.
Yes. Anyone with a passing knowledge of the Constitution knows that forcing people to buy anything, let alone health insurance, is simply not there, it is not allowed, and the men who wrote the Constitution are spinning in their graves. But our "former Constitutional law professor" president, who never actually taught Constitutional law, didn't catch it. He and Congress are either 1) ignorant of the Constitution or 2) contemptuous of it.
SOOO.... lets see... what does this bring the score to???
1 to 50???
Hat’s off to the first judge we’ve seen in 2 years with constitutional GONADS!
An injunction would have been ideal, but this is a good first step. obamacare is clearly doomed, but there will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth before its death.
Now, can we get rid of medicare? Or is there something in the legal files about medicare that makes it different from ObamanationCare? Is this also defined as tax?
Can they define your insurance premiums as a 'tax' and then force government supplied medical care on us?
There are still battles to be won here. My guess is that this judge thought of at least one work-around and that's why he didn't stay anything. If there's an easy fix, then there's no reason to stop it now.
#2
I really do think both options apply. It's not necessary to force one to choose one or the other when both clearly apply.
“Can they define your insurance premiums as a ‘tax’ and then force government supplied medical care on us? “
According to the Judge. No.
“The court also held, correctly, that the administration’s belated attempt to call the insurance mandate a “tax” is nonsensical. “
If they can’t call mandated insurance a ‘tax’, then they can’t call insurance premiums a ‘tax’ either.
If this provision, as objectionable / unconsitutional as it is, is severed from the rest of HCR, and private insurers cannot exclude coverage (usually it was for the first 12 months only) for a pre-exisiting condition on newly enrolled insureds, then two things will happen.
Many who are reasonably healthy will not purchase insurance until they need it.
Prices will go up faster and faster as more people come down on the side of “wait ‘til I get sick”
. . . There’s a reason that risk pooling works, and a reason why it fails when the pool shrinks to an unsustainably small size. Actuaries call this set of circumstances a “death spiral.”
I think that this was a long-game master stroke of strategery by the statists. They raised this unconstitutional individual mandate. We all fixated on it and worked to upset it. It was a simple issue when viewed in isolation.
If this alone succeeds, the demise of privately funded healthcare is just a matter of time. In fact, as prices skyrocket, the populist voices will shout for “something to be done!” Two guesses what that “something” wil be.
I am not advocating the retention of the mandate. The poison pill was the elimination of reasonable risk pool protection when the demagogery started in on the “pre existing exclusion” issue.
I fear that unless a wider swath of HCR is unwound, this mandate defeat will, in a few years time, be seen as a symbolic, even Pyrrhic victory.
It ought to be viewed as positive signal, but also as a ticking time bomb of spiraling prices for private insurance. This *will* be used by the statists to advance / accelerate the government’s grasp over more and more of our lives, liberty and well-being.
1 to 50???
Hat’s off to the first judge we’ve seen in 2 years with constitutional GONADS!
--------------------------
The foreign occupier and his horde are a menace to our nation and damn near everyone living here.
He and his Rats are shovel-ready for the dust bin of history.
But Obama strongly asserted during the Presidential campaign that he would not raise the taxes of those earning under $250,000 by a single dime! What a bunch of baloney.
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