Former Reagan Solicitor General says Obamacare Mandate Constitutional

Timothy Birdnow

Here is an interesting piece in Reason; Ronald Reagan's former Solicitor General and current Harvard Law Professor argues for the Constitutionality of Obamacare.

http://reason.com/archives/2011/04/18/a-conservative-defense-of-oba

It is, of course, based upon a totalitarian view of the Commerce Clause. If Congress is really granted that power it is time to call a Constitutional Convention and rewrite the whole damned thing; it isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Nobody in their right mind would have approved it - and even James Otis would be loathe to argue in it's defense. (For those who do not know, Otis was a Patriot famous for arguing both sides of a case at the same time; he ended up in a mental institution. http://www.history1700s.com/articles/article1139.shtml) If Congress does have that power, our system of government should be abolished as an abomination.

The reality is that the Interstate Commerce Clause was intended for very limited purposes, and the Founders never intended it to be abused in so spectacular a fashion. There would never have been limitations imposed on Congress otherwise. It was meant to regulate only actual, physical commerce, not unintended consequences or things that affect or are ancillary to commerce. It was, alas, poorly worded - or the meanings of words have altered subtly since the ratification of said Constitution. The Feds were given the power over commerce to prevent individual states from imposing punitive laws against other states.

If we take the ICC argument to it's logical conclusion, we can tie it to Global Warming; certainly, if we believe Global Warming is true, it has an influence on interstate commerce, and hence people's breathing falls within the purview of federal control. Population control, life and death itself would be matters of federal interest, and the central government would be within it's rights to institute whatever laws over life and death it chooses. Certainly it would have the right to control the production of any sort of energy, and how that energy is used.

The legal contortions are astonishing, and were Jay, Hamilton, Madison alive today they would be co-authoring the ant-Federalists instead.

IF the SCOTUS allows Bambicare to stand on Constitutional grounds, then we must start a movement to address the Commerce Clause along with Obamacare via the amendment process. The Constitution was not meant to be a noose around our necks.

The Sons of Liberty rebelled for far less. This cannot, will not stand.

Be sure to read the comments at the Reason piece; some powerful arguments are being made.