Our attorney general, Bill Schuette, was quick to pound the drums of victory today at a federal appeals court ruling that declared unconstitutional the individual mandate in national healthcare reform.
“This is a huge victory in the fight to protect the freedom of American citizens from the long arm of the federal government,” said the Republican, who as attorney general has filed his own suit against the mandate, which is pending in a Michigan federal court district.
The recent decision was a victory (for conservatives), but doesn’t exactly turn the tide. So far, three federal judges and an appeals court have upheld the mandate, and two have invalidated it.
Most likely, the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately decide the matter.
In a 2-1 ruling this week, the judges in the Atlanta federal court said the mandate is “unprecedented” and unlike any commercial regulation upheld in the past
Unprecedented? For many decades, Americans have been accustomed to the government mandating that they buy insurance, and nearly all take it for granted without a second’s thought.
And no, I don’t buy the argument that auto insurance is not a mandate because owning a car is a luxury that many Americans could live without. Unless you live in downtown New York or Chicago, you MUST own a car to function as an adult in this country. Therefore, buying car insurance is not optional. End of story.
And while I’m no expert on the federal commerce clause in the Constitution, it seems to me much of the battle comes down to a state’s rights issue. The argument roughly goes likes this: When the state does something, it’s fine. When federal government does it, it’s evil.
What makes the conservative assault on the mandate laughable is that it once was the linchpin of healthcare reform plans offered by Republican powerhouses Richard Nixon, Bob Dole, Mitt Romney and John McCain.
That makes sense, since the mandate is all about individual responsibility – which folklore tells us was once a cornerstone of conservative thought in this country.
Ah, the good ole’ days.
