Video: Restricting the Government’s Chokehold on Health Care

Feb 3, 2011 | Politics

As Good As One Could Expect: Notes on Judge Vinson’s Opinion of Obamacare

Feb 3, 2011 | Politics

[...] When I first read the opinion, I was not pleased. I was not pleased that Vinson began by using an Originalist approach; I was not pleased that he seemed to concede the propriety of treating the Constitution as, in effect, a "living" document; I was not pleased that he implied that the Supreme Court could -- in fact that he seemed to invite them to -- eliminate the activity/inactivity distinction. I feared that the Supreme Court might just decide that, in our modern commercial age, yada, yada, yada, an economic decision can constitute "activity" for purposes of the Commerce Clause, and that Vinson hadn't done enough to prevent this. I found his basic argument -- that, given the current state of Commerce Clause jurisprudence, if this law were to be upheld, no real distinction could be made between the "individual mandate" and anything else Congress wanted to make people do, and therefore, if this law were to be upheld, our government would no longer be a limited one whose powers are enumerated -- terribly unsatisfying. But today, after sleeping on it (even if only for a few hours), and having a brief interchange with an actual Constitutional Lawyer, I realize that my expectations are unrealistic. This is about as good as one could expect.First, even if Vinson were an Objectivist, his job would be to apply the law, as it exists, to the facts of the case before him. Thus, even if he rejected the Originalist approach, he would still be stuck with the language of the Commerce Clause itself, plus all of the horrible precedent expanding Congress's powers under that clause. Especially given that Vinson is a district court judge, it seems the best he can do is to explain why, in the context of this binding precedent, Obamacare goes too far, and is therefore unconstitutional. So, given that I've concluded this was Vinson's assignment, is there something significant he could have done that would have been more satisfying to me? I did find his expressing "reluctance" in striking down the legislation to be annoying. I mean, at least he needn't be reluctant! He is, after all, assuming he is right, saving us from a government whose powers are no longer enumerated and limited, right? He should be glad about this! I also was annoyed that he seemed to be inviting the Supreme Court, twice during the course of his opinion, to reformulate its Commerce Clause jurisprudence in a way that allows them to uphold this legislation. However, what I realized today is the only significant thing I found missing was some sort of argument as to why it must be an activity that Congress regulates under the Clause. I wanted some sort of positive justification for the activity/inactivity distinction. It was no good to just hang one's hat on the idea that, if you get rid of this distinction, Congress could do whatever it wants. I needed more!What sort of argument could one provide?