Justice Scalia, trotting out an argument first raised in the D.C. Circuit by Judge Laurence Silberman, asked whether the feds could mandate purchases of broccoli.
"Would you nominate a Supreme Court justice who agrees with you that federal government can mandate purchasing specific products?" Mr. Sasse asked Mr. Trump on Twitter.
That decision, from a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, found the mandated purchase of insurance to be unconstitutional.
"Reforms to the federal alternative fuels program could promote alternative fuels use instead of mandating purchase of vehicles that ultimately run on petroleum fuels," the report said.
It should not have mandated purchase for all, it should have included, like w/ car insurance, the option to self-insure.
Most observers had expected the Virginia panel -- all Democratic appointees, two of President Obama's -- to rule in favor of the law, supporting the mandated purchase of insurance.
And what the rest of the law means is a whole different ballgame: In 2014, the mandated purchase of health insurance, as well as public subsidies to purchase coverage, will come into effect.
"White House Set to Shape Debate Over Health Law" (front page, March 9), about the Supreme Court's hearings on the health law, doesn't mention an important new argument against the Affordable Care Act's mandated purchase of private insurance, the key issue before the Supreme Court.
It sounds remarkably like the Massachusetts plan that mandates purchase of private insurance, reimbursed by government in the form of subsidies, vouchers or tax credits.
No wonder the justices were soon pondering the slippery slope of federally mandated purchases that might also be good for us, like health club memberships.
