Re:Don’t Discriminate Against Mutants Like Me
by arca_vorago on Tuesday March 28, 2017 @02:00PM
(#13978957)
Yeah I disagree with the pivotal point they used for that decision, that it wasn't a direct tax, it seems very much like a direct tax to me.
You will find that the jurisprudence surrounding those clauses bears no resemblance whatever to what the clauses actually say. For example, look up Wickard v. Filburn and see if you think that Supreme Court decision used a reasonable interpretation of what Congress can regulate under the guise of "interstate commerce".
Interestingly, though, the clause under which the individual mandate was found constitutional was actually the Taxing Clause--the Supreme Court said it was not constitutional under either the Commerce Clause or the Necessary and Proper Clause, which was how the government had argued the case. In other words, the Supreme Court said that, while it was not constitutional to require everyone to purchase health insurance, it was constitutional to tax people who didn't. Go figure.
The full opinion is here:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf