This week, your liberty is on trial at the Supreme Court. The Court has scheduled three days of hearings to determine if Washington has the constitutional prerogative to basically rule your life. Today, the Supremes heard arguments as to whether the provision in the law for not buying healthcare insurance amounts to a tax or a penalty. If it’s a tax, then generally speaking, you cannot file suit until the tax is collected, which in this case is 2014. That’s when the mandate kicks in. This would preclude the court from issuing an opinion until that after that date. Oddly enough, both sides agree that the Court should rule on the merits now, and that the penalty isn’t a tax. So, to argue the other side, the Supreme Court booked the services of another lawyer to argue a side neither side agrees with. As I said, odd.
George Will brought up an interesting point today in his Washington Post column. The Institute for Justice, like several other “think tanks”, submitted an amicus brief opposing Obamacare on the grounds that it violates contract law. The IJ said that in order for contracts to be valid, they must be entered into voluntarily. For if an individual can be coerced into entering into a contract, liberty has been relegated to an antiquated notion. And Obamacare does just that. Your mere existence requires that you carry health insurance. Read the whole column here.
Tomorrow is the big day. That’s when arguments about the individual mandate begin. Wish I were there!
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