Monday, December 13, 2010

Individual Mandate Struck Down


Finally, after months and months of waiting for the healthcare lawsuits to find their way through the courts, we get a good result. U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson has declared the "individual mandate" portion of the 2700 page healthcare law unconstitutional. This is a great victory for anyone who has a divested interest in the freedom granted to them as a citizen of this country.

How does the government have the power to force you to buy a private product or service from a private organization? We find out today that a least one federal judge thinks the government does not have this power. Anyone who thinks the government can tell everyone to buy a private product and enforce the law with huge fines and even jail time needs to actually think about how absurd this actually is.

I commend Hudson and his conviction to stand up for the Constitution, one of the few things a federal judge should be doing. Two other federal judges have neglected to stand up for the Constitution so far on this issue, and in a few days an opinion from Florida U.S. District Court judge Roger Vinson is expected. Most legal and political scholars are almost certain that Vinson's ruling will reflect what we saw today in Virginia.