Readers in the southern California area may be interested to know that, tomorrow, I will be debating the constitutionality of the health care bill on KPCC’s Air Talk program at 2 PM eastern time, 11 AM Pacific time. At this point, I am told that my opponent will be Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of the UC […]
Archive | March, 2010
13 States File Suit Against Health Care Reform
Thirteen state attorneys general — twelve Republicans and one Democrat — filed suit today against the health care reform signed into law by President Obama. Their complaint is here. In a separate action, a fourteenth state (Virginia) also filed suit.
Sowell: Nov. 2010 may be “the point of no return”
At RealClearPolitics, Thomas Sowell writes ominously about the political future: The corrupt manner in which this massive legislation was rammed through Congress, without any of the committee hearings or extended debates that most landmark legislation has had, has provided a roadmap for pushing through more such sweeping legislation in utter defiance of what the public […]
Public Opinion on Legal Challenges to the Individual Mandate
Rasmussen Reports has just released a poll purporting to show that 49 percent of likely voters favor state litigation against the individual mandate, while 37 percent are opposed. The poll also reports that likely voters oppose the individual mandate 53% to 43%. This is only one poll, of course. All of the usual caveats […]
OMB Has Its Eyes on Prizes
Earlier this month, with little fanfare, the Obama Administration took a small but significant step toward encouraging greater technological innovation. On March 8, the Office of Management and Budget issued a guidance to federal agencies on the use of challenges and prizes to spur technological innovation. This memorandum seeks to “strongly encourage” federal agencies to […]
Thanks, Google:
There’s a lot one can say about Google’s decision, announced today, that it will shut down its Chinese search engine at google.cn — or, more precisely, that it will “stop censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored […]
More on the Chances Courts Would Strike Down the Individual Mandate
Two quick responses to my co-blogger Jonathan Adler below on the question of whether the courts would strike down the individual mandate. 1) Jonathan focuses on the chances that the Supreme Court would do something surprising and strike down the mandate. But I assume he agrees that to get the case before the Supreme Court, […]
How to “Kill the Bill”
(1) Have Republican Senate and House candidates nationwide run on a platform along the lines of the “Contract with America” that they will not vote to approve any budget that includes appropriations to effectuate provision of Obamacare. (2) The GOP take over the House or Senate, or both. (3) The House or Senate or both […]
What Will Courts Do with the Individual Mandate?
Like Orin, were I forced to make a prediction, I would predict that the individual mandate will survive judicial review. Federal courts have been quite reluctant to strike down federal statutes on enumerated powers grounds for quite some time, and the individual mandate is a larger and more consequential piece of legislation than those invalidated […]
A New Nuclear Option
Energy Scecretary Steven Chu writes on the promise and potential of small nuclear reactors: Small modular reactors would be less than one-third the size of current plants. They have compact designs and could be made in factories and transported to sites by truck or rail. SMRs would be ready to “plug and play” upon arrival. […]
What Are the Chances that the Courts Will Strike Down the Individual Mandate?
With all this blogging here at the VC about whether the courts will invalidate the individual mandate as exceeding Congress’s Article I authority, I thought I would add my two cents by estimating the odds of that happening. In my view, there is a less than 1% chance that courts will invalidate the individual mandate […]
Is the tax power infinite?
By David Kopel on March 22, 2010 8:05 pm in Commerce Clause, Congress, Constitutional History, Economic LIberties, Federalism, Guns, Health Care, Necessary and Proper, Politics, Supreme Court, Taxes
One source of the impending constitutional challenge to the Obamacare mandate is that exceeds the enumerated powers granted to Congress under Article I, section 8. For example, that the people’s grant to power to Congress to regulate commerce among the several states does not include the power to compel people to engage in commerce. Jack […]
Legal Action and Political Action as a Two-Track Strategy for Opposing Obamacare
By Ilya Somin on March 22, 2010 7:05 pm in Commerce Clause, Health Care, Obama, Spending Clause, Supreme Court
In a recent post, I suggested that Obamacare will be almost impossible to repeal through political action. History shows that it is extremely difficult to eliminate entitlements. In addition, repeal would require Republican congressional majorities and a Republican president; I doubt we will get both simultaneously for years to come. Although various state governments and […]
Response from ACLU’s Jonathan Manes on Drones and US Forces
By Kenneth Anderson on March 22, 2010 6:58 pm in Counter-Terrorism Policy, International Human Rights Law, Robotics, Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Jonathan Manes, the ACLU lawyer whose work and presentations I have cited a couple of times in posts here at Volokh, and someone for whom, despite some fundamental agreements, I have great respect and like very much, has responded with the following letter. He has given me permission to post it here. The most important […]
The Stamp Act
Received the Royal Assent and thereby became law on this day, in 1765. A spontaneous citizen movement, reinforced by state governments carrying out their duties to protect the constitutional rights and liberties of their citizens, mobilized to oppose the Stamp Act. They were told by their betters that repeal would never take place, and that […]