Contumacious
Radical Freedom
Don't Buy It
The crazy constitutional logic of the individual insurance mandate
Jacob Sullum | March 24, 2010
A few weeks before Congress passed a law that orders every American to buy health insurance, the Virginia legislature passed a law that says "no resident of this Commonwealth shall be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage." Two weeks later, Idahos governor signed a law that declares "every person within the state of Idaho is and shall be free to choose or decline to choose any mode of securing health care services without penalty."
Supporters of ObamaCare say such legislation, which more than 30 other states are considering, has no force, since the Constitution makes congressional enactments "the supreme law of the land." But that is true only when federal laws are authorized by the Constitution, and the individual health insurance mandate is not.
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The crazy constitutional logic of the individual insurance mandate
Jacob Sullum | March 24, 2010
A few weeks before Congress passed a law that orders every American to buy health insurance, the Virginia legislature passed a law that says "no resident of this Commonwealth shall be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage." Two weeks later, Idahos governor signed a law that declares "every person within the state of Idaho is and shall be free to choose or decline to choose any mode of securing health care services without penalty."
Supporters of ObamaCare say such legislation, which more than 30 other states are considering, has no force, since the Constitution makes congressional enactments "the supreme law of the land." But that is true only when federal laws are authorized by the Constitution, and the individual health insurance mandate is not.
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