Law Suits Threatened Over Obamacare

Brian Darling / December 30, 2009

The chorus of concern that an individual mandate forcing Americans to purchase health insurance is at a crescendo. The Attorney General of Florida, Bill McCollum, yesterday requested, in a letter, that other state Attorney Generals join him in “a full review of the individual mandate.” McCollum writes “serious doubts have been voiced whether the individual mandate is grounded in one of Congress’ enumerated powers. For example, if the individual mandate is treated as a fine on a person for conducting no activity at all, it may not fall within the scope of the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause. If the individual mandate is treated as a tax, the nature of that tax may limit how the revenue provision is viewed under the U.S. Constitution’s Taxing Power.”

This is an indication that many States are concerned that the Federal Government is overreaching and violating the constitutional rights of citizens. The New York Times reports, “Mr. McCollum’s stance places him in line with the attorneys general of South Carolina and nearly a dozen other states who have also threatened to sue over the mandate.” The bill is yet to be signed into law and many Members of Congress are threatening to introduce legislation to repeal Obamacare and lawyers are lining up to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation. (more…)