Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli racked up the biggest legal victory of his career yesterday when a federal judge ruled for Virginia in its legal challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). Wrote Federal Judge Henry E. Hudson on the provision that would compel Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a fine:
Neither the Supreme Court nor any federal circuit court of appeals has extended Commerce Clause powers to compel an individual to involuntarily enter the stream of commerce by purchasing a commodity in the private market. In doing so, enactment of the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision [the individual mandate] exceeds the Commerce Clause powers vested in Congress under Article 1.
Score one not only for Cuccinelli but for the rollback of the leviathan state. If Hudson’s ruling is upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, as it undoubtedly will be, an an important limit will be placed upon Congress’ power to regulate and coerce Americans any where, any time, for any reason. The ruling also undermines Obamacare’s effort to restructure the health insurance industry by forcing Americans to purchase insurance. With the blow to this critical piece of Obamacare’s financing, the entire scheme may unravel.
The only good thing that can be said about Obamacare is that at least the Democrats tried to address runaway medical inflation and shrinking access to the health care system with their own legislative package. Their solution stinks, but they tried. Now that the Republicans have shot it down, let’s see if they come up with anything better.
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