Judge Declares Federal Healthcare Plan (Partly) Unconstitutional

healeyb writes "In a surprise move, US District Judge Henry E. Hudson issued a ruling today that the universal healthcare law that was pushed through by the Obama administration is unconstitutional. Specifically, he invalidated the section of the law that requires all citizens to purchase healthcare insurance, arguing that it does not fall under the purview of Commerce Clause of the Constitution, as has been asserted by the government. The ruling represents the first major setback for President Barack Obama on an issue that will likely end up at the Supreme Court. Two other courts have shot down challenges to the law."

Comments

Filed by Ken Cuccinelli

[eldavojohn]

The same guy that went after Michael Mann and others after it was thrown out. He's a young Republican with an agenda that he's forcing down everyone's throat since day one. From trying to change the state seal (it has a mammary in it!) to just stating that "Homosexuality is wrong."

I'm not saying he's right or wrong in this matter (the judge seemed to agree with him) but he's one of those guys and he's a state Attorney General for Virginia pushing his conservative agenda to a national level.

Re:Unconstitutional

[commodore64_love]

>>>That would be (amongst others), Article I, Section [general welfare clause]

The author of the Constitution disagrees with you, and being the author he would know better than anyone what he meant. "There is nothing more natural than to start with a general phrase, and then follow it with a qualifying phrase that narrows its focus to a list of particulars." - James Madison. A decade later he wrote: "To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators."

In other words the Congress can only exercise the ENUMERATED powers underneath the general welfare clause, not everything under the sun. And if you have doubt of that, simply read amendment 10: "...powers not granted to the US are reserved to the States..." In other words the power to Require Hospital Insurance does not belong to the Congress. It belongs to the 50 State Legislatures.