>> . After this ruling congress can pass any law it wants, add a “tax” for non-compliance and then rely on Federal taxing authority for jurisdiction <<
but voting to raise taxes is not a popular thing for a congressman to do.
If Romney vetoes this mess, there is no way it can ever be revived without people wanting a tax increase.
That's not as true as it used to be. With 40% of the population paying no taxes and almost that much making their living off the government, more and more will support tax increases as long as its on the other half (the producing half) of the citizentry. The is the entire mantra of the OWS crowd. As has been pointed out before, democracy breaks down when 51% of the population figures out they can vote themselves into the wallets of the other 49%.