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| Senate Judiciary Chairman Unable to Say Where Constitution Authorizes Congress to Order Americans to Buy Health Insurance |
| 2009-10-23 |
| (CNSNews.com) -- Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) would not say what part of the Constitution grants Congress the power to force every American to buy health insurance--as all of the health care overhaul bills currently do. Leahy, whose committee is responsible for vetting Supreme Court nominees, was asked by CNSNews.com where in the Constitution Congress is specifically granted the authority to require that every American purchase health insurance. Leahy answered by saying that "nobody questions" Congress' authority for such an action. CNSNews.com: "Where, in your opinion, does the Constitution give specific authority for Congress to give an individual mandate for health insurance?" Sen. Leahy: "We have plenty of authority. Are you saying there is no authority?" CNSNews.com: "I'm asking--" Sen. Leahy: "Why would you say there is no authority? I mean, there's no question there's authority. Nobody questions that." When CNSNews.com again attempted to ask which provision of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to force Americans to purchase health insurance, Leahy compared the mandate to the government's ability to set speed limits on interstate highways--before turning and walking away. CNSNews.com: "But where, I mean, which--" Sen. Leahy: "Where do we have the authority to set speed limits on an interstate highway? CNSNews.com: "The states do that." Sen. Leahy: "No. The federal government does that on federal highways." Prior to 1995, the federal government mandated a speed limit of 55 miles an hour on all four-lane highways. The limit was repealed in 1995 and the authority to set speed limits reverted back to the states. Technically, the law that established the 55 mile-an-hour limit--the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act of 1974--withheld federal highway funds from states that did not comply with it. The law rested on the Commerce Clause, which give Congress the authority to regulate interstate commerce, and Congress' authority to dole out federal tax revenue. Someone who does not buy health insurance, critics have argued, is not by that ommission engaged in interstate commerce and thus there is no act of interstate commerce for Congress to regulate in this situation. All versions of the health care bill currently being considered in Congress mandate that individuals buy heatlh insurance. Americans who don't would be subject to a financial penalty. Attorney David Rivkin Jr., who worked in the Justice Department under both Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, said that Sen. Leahy's response about the constitutional authority to mandate the purchase of health insurance "is wrong." "None of Congress' enumerated powers support an individual purchase mandate," said Rivkin. "We have made this case in considerable detail in our recent articles in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Indeed, the Congressional Research Service, an entity that is usually deferential to Congress' prerogatives and prone to take an expansive view of congressional powers, when asked by the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus about the constitutionality of individual purchase mandates could only say that this is a 'novel question.'" |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 OTOH GOOGLE NEWS > US TECH FIRMS DESIRE TO CHANGE VISA RULES IN ORDER TO HIRE WORKERS FROM ABROAD [foreign workers]. Whole bunch of Boyz = potential worker bees down at GITMO??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-10-23 23:50 |
| #5 "Shut up!" he explained. |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-10-23 13:30 |
| #4 It'll be exactly where the Obamations hand-picked Supreme Court & suckups say it is. Right next to that "abortion is peachy keen & Kelo has no right to property" clause. Soap box, ballot box, cartridge box. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2009-10-23 10:36 |
| #3 Constitution |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-10-23 08:23 |
| #2 All the reporter is asking is Senator Leahy, "Where is the birth certificate?" |
| Posted by: Bugs Flinens2872 2009-10-23 06:39 |
| #1 They'll figure it out later. |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-10-23 02:00 |