Yes, I get it. I am a lawyer and there are plenty of situations where the law does not allow one to do indirectly what cannot be done directly. I am perplexed by Roberts’ conclusion that Congress doesn’t have the power to force people to buy insurance but has the power to tax them if they don’t.
Like in a stick up. They are ASKING you to turn over your wallet, not TELLING you....however, if you refuse, they reserve the right to shoot you in the head. It is your choice I guess. Thugocracy is what we now have.
Simple. Congress has unlimited power to tax. There are no limits on what they can tax or how high they can jack the tax rates up to in the Constitution.
With Obamacare, the "penalty" is an income tax surtax which is permitted by the 16th Amendment.
However, after ruling as such, he stated that the Supreme Court would not permit Congress to tax with abandon and if a tax was "punitive" then the Court would rule it Unconstitutional.
However, Roberts wanted to rein in the Commerce Clause and did just that. He also nipped the "Necessary and Proper" clause. He went further and resurrected the 10th Amendment by telling the Feds that if they are funding something, they can't just threaten to cut off the funding.
Quite simply, he compromised and gave both wings of his Court what they wanted.
Now the fun part -- since Obamacare is now a tax, it can be challenged AGAIN in two years. This time without the media going bonkers over it, and it can be found Unconstitutional because HHS can't give a 'waiver' to a tax. Equal Protection and all that.
I am not a lawyer, but I do come from a family of them. This is what is going around presently.