Obama’s Constitutional Malpractice

Health care plan would make the Founders sick

The Washington Times

The current legislation ‘passed into law’ by the signing of  Obama is far from a done deal.  Numerous problems and questions must be resolved at the state level, as they assert their rights to protect their citizens from this soon to be proven Unconstitutional scam.

Forcing people to purchase what they may not want, or cannot afford.  News flash to Obama wizards, how will the massive unemployment generated by this ill conceived plan treat the unemployed who cannot pay, will you fine them or jail them?

You have miscalculated the rage and wrath of the American People. Not surprisingly you have very little understanding about why we choose a Republic within a Democracy over your proposed totalitarian rule. Random thoughts while waiting for the wheels to call off your bus, J.C.

Americans have grown used to Congress claiming the right to regulate and control everything they do. But by what right can Congress force Americans to purchase health insurance?

This question is at the root of lawsuits filed by 14 states challenging Obamacare’s requirement that those without health insurance must obtain it or face fines of $2,085 per household or 2.5 percent of income – whichever is greater.

Defenders of the new law point to the constitutional provision empowering Congress to regulate interstate commerce. The Supreme Court has long interpreted the Commerce Clause to extend well beyond what a common-sense reading would support. In the 1942 case Wickard v. Filburn, the high court ruled that farmer Roscoe Filburn could not grow wheat in excess of limits set by the 1938 Agricultural Adjustment Act. It did not matter that the wheat was grown on his own land for his own use – in this case feeding his chickens. According to the court, “control of total supply … depends upon the control of individual supply.” If enough farmers like Filburn grew their own chicken feed, they would not buy it, and this would have an impact on commerce nationwide. The Congress that can regulate Roscoe Filburn’s chicken feed can regulate anything.

Still, Congress never claimed it could force people to take up farming or any other vocation. This is the radical interpretation of the Commerce Clause embedded in the health care bill. It is not a power to regulate commercial activity, but to compel it.

The change is unprecedented. All previous Commerce Clause cases have dealt with regulating pre-existing activity, but if someone is not buying health insurance, there is no commerce to regulate. The clause has never been used to compel private citizens not engaged in commerce to spend money on a government-mandated program. This is a new, extreme and potentially dangerous interpretation.

Professor Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California, Irvine, School of Law, known for his liberal interpretation of the Constitution, defends the individual mandate on the grounds that the Commerce Clause “includes authority to regulate activities that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce. In the area of economic activities, ‘substantial effect’ can be found based on the cumulative impact of the activity across the country.” Complete Article: