This is a very informative ruling and, believe it or not, a very good and easy read. Not only does the ruling give insight into the new healthcare law and the debate surrounding it, the text sheds some light on how Congress has used the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to expand its power over the last century or so. It's pretty amazing how, during the New Deal, the government pushed the boundaries of their power and how the Supreme Court stretched the Commerce Clause to allow them to do so.
With Obamacare Congress is asking that the Commerce Clause be stretched, yet again. Vinson's decision against the mandate that all individuals buy health insurance hinges on the question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate an individual's decision not to act in a certain way. It's long been accepted that Congress has the power, via the commerce clause, to regulate almost any economic activity. If something is produced, bought, sold, or moved and it affects, even tangentially, interstate commerce, the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress can regulate it. With the individual mandate, for the first time, Congress is interpreting it's power as being able to regulate inactivity if it affects interstate commerce. The government's argument is that an individual's choice not to purchase healthcare affects the healthcare market, and because of that they can regulate that decision. The government can, in essence, make you buy something you don't necessarily want because it deems that purchase beneficial to interstate commerce. As Judge Vinson points out, this opens up the possibility that Congress could make people do all sorts of things because of their positive impact on the healthcare or other industry. For example, if they're granted the power they seek, Congress could require Americans to buy and consume broccoli three days a week or exercise for a minimum amount of time or...well you get the picture.
Such a slippery slope argument is a bit of a logical fallacy and normally I wouldn't buy into it. However, this is the federal government we're talking about and they do tend to push the boundaries of their power when given a chance-case in point, the, for now, unconstitutional healthcare law.
Well, it's time I head off to the salt mines.
Enjoy.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/47905274/Vinson-Ruling
With Obamacare Congress is asking that the Commerce Clause be stretched, yet again. Vinson's decision against the mandate that all individuals buy health insurance hinges on the question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate an individual's decision not to act in a certain way. It's long been accepted that Congress has the power, via the commerce clause, to regulate almost any economic activity. If something is produced, bought, sold, or moved and it affects, even tangentially, interstate commerce, the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress can regulate it. With the individual mandate, for the first time, Congress is interpreting it's power as being able to regulate inactivity if it affects interstate commerce. The government's argument is that an individual's choice not to purchase healthcare affects the healthcare market, and because of that they can regulate that decision. The government can, in essence, make you buy something you don't necessarily want because it deems that purchase beneficial to interstate commerce. As Judge Vinson points out, this opens up the possibility that Congress could make people do all sorts of things because of their positive impact on the healthcare or other industry. For example, if they're granted the power they seek, Congress could require Americans to buy and consume broccoli three days a week or exercise for a minimum amount of time or...well you get the picture.
Such a slippery slope argument is a bit of a logical fallacy and normally I wouldn't buy into it. However, this is the federal government we're talking about and they do tend to push the boundaries of their power when given a chance-case in point, the, for now, unconstitutional healthcare law.
Well, it's time I head off to the salt mines.
Enjoy.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/47905274/Vinson-Ruling
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