The U.S. Constitution does not outlaw stupidity, so increasingly desperate Congressional Republicans are fully within their rights to argue that a key aspect of the health-care reform bill passed by the House and awaiting Senate approval is unconstitutional.
These Republicans are increasingly desperate because President Obama is edging ever closer to an historic victory that a large majority of Americans welcome. The Republicans' argument, which we'll be hearing a lot about in the coming days, goes something like this: The individual mandate, which will require people to have health insurance or be penalized, is not sanctioned by the Constitution.
The argument falls apart quickly when you consider that the individual mandate is a tax of a sort, which is constitutional. Then there's mandatory auto insurance, which is constitutional, and my favorite -- the Americans With Disability Act -- which requires businesses to install handicapped ramps and such even though the Constitution does not address the issue of entryways.
More here.
Cartoon by Tom Toles/Universal Press Syndicate
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