State laws require car insurance but can the Federal government force you to buy health insurance? A federal judge in Michigan threw out a challenge last week but U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Florida says the suit before him can go ahead.
His reasoning? What common sense and opponents said all along. Congress was intentionally unclear when it created penalties in the legislation and overstepped its constitutional authority by penalizing people for not doing something — namely, not buying health insurance.
The penalties for those who do not buy insurance are never referred to as taxes in the 2,700-page act but the Obama administration attorneys now claim the taxes were implied, they aren't penalties for not doing something. Vinson also objected to the idea that states and individual taxpayers must wait until 2014 to file any lawsuits, since businesses and states are feeling the ramifications of the law now.
The hearing it set for Dec. 16. It's just a waypoint because the issue will wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court no matter how it goes.
