Now, there's a question that seems to have escaped debate. It is so much taken for granted that it is that when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about her plan's constitutionality, her reply was essentially, "Are you serious?"

Well, some folks may not take the Constitutional seriously, but a lot of us do. And this is more than an academic question. It was raised quite well in this story. Here's an excerpt:


Randy Barnett, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, asks, "Where in the [Constitution] is the power to mandate that individuals buy health insurance?" His answer: Nowhere. "The business of providing health insurance is now an entirely intrastate activity" beyond the regulatory sway of the federal government, he said.

Washington lawyers David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey argued in an Aug. 22 column in The Washington Post that Congress has no constitutional power to tell people what they must buy. "The Constitution assigns only limited, enumerated powers to Congress, and none, including the power to regulate interstate commerce or to impose taxes, would support a federal mandate requiring anyone who is otherwise without health insurance to buy it," they said.

Can Congress order every American to buy insurance? It's a question that I raised early on, and none of the health overhaul advocates seem to want to address it. But if they don't do it now, it surely will be addressed in the courts and (here we go again) it will be addressed and settled by the U.S. Supreme Court

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/dennis-byr...titutional.html

when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about her plan's constitutionality, her reply was essentially, "Are you serious?"

The only thing shocking about that is that she was somehow surprised by the latest asinine wingnut attacks on health care.

clown show

"Can Congress order every American to buy insurance? "

Answer this question. :<_<:

They can. Constitutionally? no they can't.

Are you serious. What a BS question. Of course Congress can. WTF is this "Constitution" of which you speak anyway? Elections have consequences dont you know?

So does government usurping individual liberties.

Just sayin. :ph43r:

BUSH BUSH BUSH BUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please note that nobody has actually attempted to answer the question. ;)

Clearly the Constitution doesn't allow them to "order every American to buy insurance", but of course Congress will try an end-around with either the interstate commerce clause or the ability to impose taxes. I could envision a scenario where Congress mandates a federal healthcare system that covers every American, then imposes a "healthcare tax" which would be excised directly from wages, as with SS, FICA, etc. Hey presto! It's mandated that you have it, because everyone's covered. And it's mandated that you pay for it, because you're taxed before you ever see the money.

Of course not. It's a ridiculous question!!!!

;)

Gee, what a surprise. Now that "their guy" is in power, Pepsi and USTA have suddenly stopped giving a damn about the Constitution.

'Course, they never REALLY cared about it in the first place, it was just something they tried to use as a weapon against the "other party". As far as they're concerned, the Constitution's entire meaning is "Democrats can do whatever they want".

Liberals rarely recognize tyranny that they perceive as benevolence as, in fact, tyranny.

Few people ever do. Most tyrants and oppressors, whether it's the Nazis or the Soviets, or the ChiComs or Castro or Mussolini or whoever, manage to believe that the despicable things they do are for everyone's good. Very, very few people actually admit, even to themselves, that what they are doing is evil.

Well, CLEARLY the power to regulate interstate commerce really means "unlimited powers to do anything and everything, nullifying the entire rest of the document". That's what the SCOTUS has been telling us, and as we all know whatever they say is true, even when it isn't...

clown show

Please note that nobody has actually attempted to answer the question


I wonder why

anyone get to that question yet ?

I'm still too busy laughing at it.

Good to know you don't care if your Dear Leaders are a bunch of criminals. Guess you don't care about Republican abuse of the Constitution anymore, right?