Is the Personal Mandate to Buy Health Insurance Unconstitutional?(YES!)

T he Heritage Foundation ^ | December 9, 2009

[Man50D]

Details:

Can Congress require all Americans to buy a new Buick every year or pay a tax equivalent to the price of a used LeSabre? Some members of Congress claim that power in the health care debate. Indeed, all the leading health care bills being debated in Congress require Americans to either secure or purchase health insurance with a particular threshold of coverage, estimated to cost up to $15,000/year for a typical family. Such a purchase mandate has never been attempted.

[Man50D]

Date: December 9, 2009
Time: 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Speaker(s):

Introductory Remarks by:

The Honorable Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Member,
United States Senate

Followed by a Discussion with:

Randy Barnett Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory, Georgetown University Law Center

Eugene Volokh Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law, and Founder, “The Volokh Conspiracy” Blog
Host(s):

Todd Gaziano Director,
Center for Legal and Judicial Studies,
The Heritage Foundation

[KC Burke]

Rhey don;t care. They build in severability and the rest of the law stands without that money or coverage and it gives them the excuse for national one payer.

[camle]

it doesn’t matter - if (when) that provision gets struck down, they’ll simply raise taxes to pay for the shortfall. they know it and think thatwe’re too stupid to see their plan.

[Travis McGee]

Welcome to the USSA, comrade.

Freedom and the Constitution have nothing to do with anything.

[TADSLOS]

If they can force you to purchase health care insurance, they can most certainly force you to board the train for the end of life program.

[DannyTN]

It seems like such a law would be considered similar to a poll tax, and thus discriminatory.

[DannyTN]

Obamacare

[Travis McGee]

They can certainly try. But first they’ll have to accomplish that tricky part about disarming us.

Good luck with that, I say!

[grumpygresh]

On to the states! Look if these libs want their state marijuana laws, Oregon wants its euthanasia law we can pass a law prohibiting health care insurance mandates on the state levels. Marijuana use and euthanasia are activities that could be considered as commerce under the commerce clause. But NOT buying insurance is commerce? If not buying insurance is commerce, then the federal government could compel you do do anything.

[Jack Black]

Ping.