Judicial Activism
Conservatives enjoyed a poetic justice victory yesterday when U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson, in Pensacola, Fla., ruled that the individual mandate requiring people to buy health insurance is unconstitutional and as a result, the entire law must be declared void.
“I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the act with the individual mandate,” he wrote. “That is not to say, of course, that Congress is without power to address the problems and inequities in our health care system. The health care market is more than one-sixth of the national economy, and without doubt Congress has the power to reform and regulate this market. That has not been disputed in this case. The principal dispute has been about how Congress chose to exercise that power here.
“While the individual mandate was clearly 'necessary and essential' to the act as drafted, it is not 'necessary and essential' to health care reform in general," he continued. "Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be declared void.”
Department of Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said the department plans to appeal Vinson's ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
We won a battle yesterday, not the entire war. Our enemy is entrenched with a great propaganda machine. There’s no doubt some reforms in the health care system are needed but some reforms need to be made in terms of people’s health care awareness, like “insure yourself early.”
Yesterday was a welcome victory for personal responsibility, the economy, the taxpayer, and the U.S. Constitution. But it’s not over. An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but it’s going to take barrels and barrels of apple to keep pork-happy bureaucrats away.
“I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the act with the individual mandate,” he wrote. “That is not to say, of course, that Congress is without power to address the problems and inequities in our health care system. The health care market is more than one-sixth of the national economy, and without doubt Congress has the power to reform and regulate this market. That has not been disputed in this case. The principal dispute has been about how Congress chose to exercise that power here.
“While the individual mandate was clearly 'necessary and essential' to the act as drafted, it is not 'necessary and essential' to health care reform in general," he continued. "Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be declared void.”
Department of Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said the department plans to appeal Vinson's ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
We won a battle yesterday, not the entire war. Our enemy is entrenched with a great propaganda machine. There’s no doubt some reforms in the health care system are needed but some reforms need to be made in terms of people’s health care awareness, like “insure yourself early.”
Yesterday was a welcome victory for personal responsibility, the economy, the taxpayer, and the U.S. Constitution. But it’s not over. An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but it’s going to take barrels and barrels of apple to keep pork-happy bureaucrats away.
posted by Belle | 8:42 AM
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