The Constitution made a comeback these past few years. In 2009, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) replied to a question about the constitutionality of Obamacare with “Are you serious?” The American people were serious. They began carrying the Constitution everywhere, read it to their representatives, and then elected new Members of Congress who would actually read it too. Reading the Constitution has been a great start, but it’s not enough. Now, we need to learn what it means. Heritage’s authoritative source on the Constitution is a tool to do just … More
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How well do you think you know the Constitution? If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about it, now is your chance. Heritage just launched www.ConstitutionOnline.com: a comprehensive and authoritative analysis of every single clause in the Constit…
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By Michael F. Cannon
Charles Kolb is president of the Committee for Economic Development and was a domestic policy adviser to Bush the Elder. Over at Huffington Post, he articulates why (he thinks) the Constitution’s Commerce Clause empowers Congress to force people to purchase health insurance, but not broccoli. That is to say, he offers (what he thinks is) a limiting principle [...]
That’s Not a Limiting Principle, Charles Kolb Edition is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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Today, on Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, we remember the man who can list as his crowning achievement the Declaration of Independence. But with the Obamacare contraceptive mandate still fresh in our memories, perhaps it would be good to remember another aspect of Jefferson’s legacy: his staunch commitment to religious liberty. Jefferson firmly believed in the importance of keeping government out of religion, and nowhere is this more evident than in his drafting of the 1786 Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom. This act boldly proclaims “that all men shall be free … More
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Yesterday in a joint press conference with the Canadian prime minister and Mexican president, President Obama expressed his confidence that the Supreme Court will uphold his signature health care law, following more than six hours of oral argument before the Court last week. Obama suggested that the Court—not Congress—would be taking an “unprecedented, extraordinary step” if it overturned ObamaCare despite the fact that the Court will need to stretch its Commerce Clause jurisprudence to the outer limits to find that Congress’ mandate that people buy inflated health insurance plans is … More
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Obamacare’s day in court didn’t go so well, and liberals are in a panic. Sensing the demise of Obamacare, they have begun to preemptively accuse the conservative justices of “judicial activism.” But the more they try to explain how striking down Obamacare would be “judicial activism,” the clearer it is that the left thinks “judicial activism” is a failure to advance liberalism. Case in point: On Monday, Obama “warned” the Supreme Court against judicial activism, saying that overturning his health law “would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a … More
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The Court’s morning session concentrated on whether, if the individual mandate is held unconstitutional (as looks increasingly likely after yesterday’s argument), it can be cleanly severed from the rest of ObamaCare, and if not, what other portions of the act must the Court strike down with it. The Court’s afternoon session focused on whether Congress’s conditions on the states to continue to participate in the Medicaid program were constitutionally coercive. The two sessions were largely distinct but had some overlapping aspects. SEVERABILITY In the morning’s arguments about severability, the government … More
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In oral arguments yesterday about Obamacare’s individual mandate, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts posited that if the government could force people to buy health insurance, its power would be nearly unlimited: Once we say that there is a market and Congress can require people to participate in it…it seems to me that we can’t say there are limitations on what Congress can do under its commerce power, just like in any other area.… All bets are off. Justice Kennedy, considered the swing vote on the court, seemed to agree: Here, … More
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By Marian L. Tupy
I had to read this story twice and I still cannot quite bring myself to believe it. Apparently, a British judge sentenced a 21 year old biology student to 56 days in jail for making fun of a tragic near-death experience of a soccer player. As Fabrice Muamba, a Bolton Wanderers midfielder, collapsed in mid-play [...]
British Student Jailed over a Tweet is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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Call it the main event: after a day puzzling over whether Obamacare’s fines on those who don’t buy insurance constitute a tax or a penalty—an important threshold issue, to be sure, but one that hasn’t quite captured the public’s imagination—the Court today will hear oral argument regarding one of the most important issues before it in 65 years: whether the Constitution empowers Congress to require that virtually all Americans purchase or obtain health insurance coverage. The answer to that question will determine whether the federal Leviathan truly remains a government … More
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