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Overnight Open Thread - Countdown Edition »
March 21, 2010
Hmmm: 2/3rds of State Legislatures Can Force Vote on Constitutional Amendment to Repeal Health Care
Not sure if this is the easiest course of action, but there's a good shot of rounding up 2/3rds of state legislatures. Half are in the bag; it's the last 8 that will be tough.
Of course, there is one additional way for states to win a fight about the constitutionality of health-care legislation: Make it unconstitutional. Article V of the Constitution gives state legislatures the power to require Congress to convene a convention to propose an amendment to the Constitution. If two-thirds of state legislatures demand an amendment barring the federal regulation of health insurance or an individual mandate, Congress would be constitutionally bound to hold a convention. Something like this happened in 1933 when Congress proposed and two-thirds of the states ratified the 21st Amendment, removing from the Constitution the federal power to prohibit the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol. But the very threat of an amendment convention would probably induce Congress to repeal the bill.