Obama’s Healthcare Reform: Unconstitutional?

Posted by on December 26, 2009

Sheldon H. Laskin, in an article on CounterCurrents.org, questions whether Congress has the constitutional authority to require Americans to purchase a commodity from a private, for-profit corporation.

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  1. The “reform” now in Congress is a massive handout to the insurance industry, funded by new taxes on working people and by cuts in payments for services to the elderly. But it is not unconstitutional. That notion is being floated mainly by the right wing, especially Republican members of Congress. We don’t need to sit in their cheering section.

  2. For a good defense of the constitutionality of the mandate, see this explanation by law professor Jack Balkin. Note that acknowledging that something passes constitutional muster does not make it a good idea, or even tolerable. The existing constitution doesn’t say what socialists would like it to say on a lot of subjects.