Orrin Hatch questions the constitutionality of healthcare mandates
Democrats have been scrambling to find a constitutional argument for mandating the American people to buy health insurance. Some, such as Steny Hoyer, have argued that the”general welfare” clause gives congress the right to mandate healthcare coverage. Others, Nancy Pelosi, when asked about the contitutionality of healthcare mandates simply says, “are you serious” and walks away without even trying to defend the constitutionality of the proposed mandate. And still others, like Patrick Leahy, just say the authority is there and nobody questions it.
But some people do question it. Orrin Hatch is one of those who question where the constitution provides congress with the authority to mandate healthcare coverage.
I think there’s a real constitutional issue there
Apparently Orrin Hatch did not get Patrick Leahy’s message that congress has the authority and that nobody should question that the authority exists.
Orrin Hatch also worries about the precedent that will be set if the government is allowed to force the American people to purchase a product that some Americans do not want to buy.
he does not believe the Democrats’ health-care reform plan is constitutionally justifiable, noting that if the federal government can force Americans to buy health insurance “then there is literally nothing the federal government can’t force us to do.”
Hatch said if the federal government starts ordering Americans to purchase specific products without being able to plausibly justify that mandate through the Commerce Clause of the Constitution which empowers Congress to regulate interstate commerce, it will mean “we’ve lost our freedoms, and that means the federal government can do anything it wants to do to us
While I agree with this statement about the precedent that will be set, I do take one issue with Orrin Hatch’s statement. He still leaves the door open to the fact that the Democrats may be able to plausibly justify the mandate using the position that the Commerce Clause may make healthcare mandates constitutional.
America's Watchtower 
It seems to me that if Congress thinks something should be done, they find a way to get it done. They really don’t care if it is constitutional or not, as long as they get what they want.
LikeLike
No bill that passes nowadays has to pass the constitutionality test. Very little lesislation ever gets contested on a constitutional basis any more.
LikeLike
The constitutional legality of nearly everything the Obama crew has done needs to be closely examined… ALL of it…
LikeLike
The commerce clause is a stretch, often liberal judges will use the “equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment as a catch all. If Obamacare is passed with mandates it will eventually find its way to the federal courts and maybe even the supreme court and we will have to see how they rule on this one.
LikeLike
The commerce clause should be a stretch but it may be one of the most abused parts of the constitution. The 14th amendment may be equally abused. I hope that you are right and that if mandates are included that the Supreme Court will hear the case.
LikeLike