printAs the late Joe Sobran once quipped, “The U.S. Constitution poses no serious threat to our form of government.” A Clinton-appointed U.S. District Court by the name of Judge George Steeh has ruled that “Congress can require individuals to buy health insurance starting in 2014 as one of the provisions of health care reform legislation enacted in March.” The ‘judge’ went on to dismiss ‘part of the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center’s federal lawsuit.'”
The nonprofit Christian legal advocacy group filed a lawsuit on behalf of four uninsured Michigan residents who objected to the individual mandate provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as an unconstitutional tax.
“According to the Law Center, the court took the extraordinary step of concluding that Congress’ Commerce Clause power does not end at regulating economic activity. Rather, this power can be extended to regulate economic decisions whether made consciously or not. The court stated, ‘While plaintiffs describe the Commerce Clause power as reaching economic activity, the government’s characterization of the Commerce Clause reaching economic decisions is more accurate.'”
Rob Muise, The Law Center’s senior trial counsel who handled the case commented, ‘This decision is ripe for appeal, which we intend to do expeditiously.'”
” If Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything–and the Federal Government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers. – Justice Thomas, dissenting, in Gonzales v. Raich (medical marijuana = “interstate commerce”)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1454.ZD1.html
The Constitution was being chipped at little by little since its adoption – and was completely dead by 1937 after a 150 year life.
But do not just BLAME THE COURTS. It is the Congress that passes the laws, the President that signs the laws, and the various lobbies of big business, big labor, etc. that stuff all the garbage into the laws. We have met the enemy and it is us.
Now that the President can order Americans assassinated without even so much as a military tribunal …
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/04/07/assassinations
you had BETTER SIGN UP for health care OR ELSE!! (Constitution – what’s that??)
The judiciary happily ignores the constitution when their personal political/social leanings require. The legislative and executive branches ditto, while trying to maintain the facade of adhering to the constitution. Mr. and Mrs John Q. average shnook don’t know the difference. Constitution? We don’t need no stinking Constitution.
For those of us who believe in fixed, transcendant moral and Natural Law, what does all of this mean? When the powers-that-be, the black-robed, legal jargon spouting priesthood in the “justice” system are free to pronounce law according to their enlightened whims, contra to this objective law, reflected in our Constitution, what law is there?
Arizona is being sued by the Federal Government for ultimatley seeking to protect its citizens from an invasion. Now, Michigan citizens have just lost their suit to protect themselves from an obviously unconstitutional law. And in both cases, both Arizona and the citizens of Michigan will keep spending their time and treasure to fight this battle in the courts. Why? Why play their game?
Now, I understand competition on a level playing field, wherein both sides agree upon the rules, but please tell me where we find this level playing field in this phase of our history? The legal system has long since been taken over by evolving, case law (aka, make-up-the-rules-as-you-go).
The government possesses huge powers to force compliance – so I don’t say this lightly – but this simply cannot stand! At some point, we have to realize that the system is indeed rigged, that there is no reasonable hope for justice coming out of a system, however well founded it was upon ordered, constitutional liberty, that has cast off its moorings from its first principles.
I’m afraid the only hope is states, municipalities, and citizens organizing and reasserting their inalienable rights, BACKED BY THE CERTAINTY OF FORCEFUL RESISTANCE to tyranny. The paradigm must shift: Washington, D.C. is broken beyond repair. Although there are perhaps a few noble patriots to be found in Congress, all three branches are corrupt to the core. They are the ones who have rebelled against and broken the law and Constitution.
No, might doesn’t make right, but right needs might very often in order to fight tyranny, especially when that tyrant no longer recognizes any rule above himself. I think we’re at that point.
I love Justice Thomas. He’s the only non-hack on the court.
When I was in college I took a couple of quarters of Constitutional Law. This was about 1978. Believe it or not at one point I acutally wanted to be a lawyer. As we followed the Supreme Court Cases you could see the incremental expansion of federal power with the Commerce Clause as the means to this end. Clearly the expansion expansion of this power via the commerce clause has continued since 1978.
But non-economic action is the same as economic action so when you consciously do not make an economic decision, you are actually make an active economic decision which can therefore be regulated by the interstate commerce act! It’s perfectly clear to me.
In other news, the Justice Department has started arresting people for not participating in civil rights marches, gay pride parades, and other forms of activism that supports the efforts of protected classes of people. Attorney General Eric Holder defended these actions by saying that non-action on behalf of these people is actually active participation against them and therefore constitutes a hate crime.