PUTTING GOVERNMENT BACK ON THE SIDE OF THE PEOPLE

This first major step in a transformational presidency was the 2008 election itself when we broke with history and elected Barack Obama.  The passage of health care reform is the second.  Try as they might, Republicans will not be able to stop the thrust of this law.  More here from David Leonhardt on ending the era of Reagan.

EVIL IS ALIVE & WELL

But after losing legislatively, the worst conservatives will rely on an activist, fanatical, politically motivated Supreme Court majority to take away health care from the people and let insurance companies to run families into the ground.  After Bush v. Gore and Citizens United, it is now impossible to say that the Supreme Court’s five member reactionary majority will stick to the Constitution.  However, there is no legitimate Constitutional objection.

The objections rest on two frivolous grounds: states’ rights and the odd notion that citizens cannot be forced to pay a government tax.

The Supremacy Clause, The Commerce Clause, and Congressional Power to Tax

The states’ rights argument can be dismissed in three words “The Supremacy Clause”.  Federal law trumps state law, particularly when it comes to taxing or the power to regulate commerce.  It’s really that simple.

As Lawrence O’Donnell stated on MSNBC last night, there is no question that the federal government has the power to tax and those without health care can be taxed.  It is enforced by the IRS and the federal government has the power to tax.

As quoted by NBC news, Yale Law School professor Jack Balkin argued “When uninsured people get sick, they rely on their families for financial support, go to emergency room [often passing on costs to others], or purchase over-the-counter remedies…All these effects are economic.”

As NBC reported, Balkin confirms that because Congress believes national health care reform won’t succeed unless the uninsured are brought into national risk pools, it can constitutionally regulate their activities.

This is legal malpractice.  Any attorney general who pursues is unqualified to be attorney general…even of Wasilla.