The Commanding Hair: Supreme Court Will Rule on Critical Parts of Obamacare

Including the mandate.

He thinks the lawsuits working their way through the courts will push it to SCOTUS, and he also thinks there are just enough votes there to kill a federal requirement that citizens must enter into financial covenants with private companies for health insurance.

"It's going to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court's going to decide whether or not the Constitution of the United States permits the government to order the American people to purchase goods or services, whether they want them or need them or not," Pence said Friday on WLS radio in Indiana.

The Indiana lawmaker, and potential 2012 presidential candidate, has been among the crowd of Republicans to question whether a central part of Democrats' healthcare reform bill is constitutional. The crux of their argument is that the individual mandate — the section of the law requiring individuals to have health insurance of some sort — violates the Constitution.

Federal judges are funny critters, and oddly enough, disagree with interpretations of the Commerce clause at least as much as the rest of us.

One argument that has always fallen flat with me, is the comparison between "the federal government requiring you to purchase health insurance" and "a state government requiring you to purchase car insurance."

The state of Texas does not require drivers to purchase automobile insurance. The state of Texas does require a licensed driver to demonstrate "proof of financial responsibility", that is, your ability to cover the cost, up to certain amounts, of damage or injury as a result of your negligence.

Not insurance. The privilege of driving a vehicle here is granted with the requirement that you can demonstrate your ability to pay for your mistakes. That most of us choose to demonstrate this with liability insurance does not change the intent or meaning of the law.

I don't know why I'm rambling about insurance when all this crap is really about is buying votes with taxpayer money, and further enslaving us to our "betters".

Let's do this instead. Don't leave one candidate hanging.

posted by Dave In Texas at 08:52 PM

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