U.S. Constitution clearly forbids this health care law

Bob Glover, Las Vegas

Sunday, April 4, 2010 | 2:03 a.m.

Regarding the lawsuits filed by state attorneys general against the recently passed health care reform legislation:

There exists a legitimate question of whether our Constitution grants the central government the power to require each citizen of the U.S. to buy health insurance. The powers of Congress are limited and enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution and do not contain the authority to compel citizens to purchase any product or service.

Moreover, the 10th Amendment reserves the powers not enumerated and designated to the central government to the states respectively or to the people.

James Madison, in Federalist 41, argued the general welfare clause of our Constitution is neither a statement of ends nor a substantive grant of power. It is a mere “synonym” for the enumeration of particular powers, which are limited, and wholly define its content.

The supreme law of the land clause of the Constitution is not applicable because all laws made in pursuance of the Constitution, or those clearly enumerated in the document, were supreme, state laws notwithstanding. In other words, the central government was supreme in all items clearly listed in the document.

The federal government will probably hang its hat upon the commerce clause, which has been tortured in recent years to cover virtually any eventuality with which our federal lawmakers disagree, most notably in the case in which the Supreme Court used the clause to invalidate the will of California voters on medical marijuana.

I find it ridiculous that the level of civic literacy in our political discourse has declined to the point at which any concept of federalism, knowledge of the historical milieu of the founding of our nation and the intent of the founders regarding the process and practice of governance of our republic is gone.