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OneTenthofOnePercent

(6,268 posts)

27. Mandating the purchase of insurance for your employees is WAY different.

Sat Jun 16, 2012, 11:38 PM

Jun 2012

It was a mandate for employers to provide insurance for a singular industry. Quite a bit f choices existed to opt out as running a business is wholly a choice as is the employees choice to work for you in that industry. It's a regulation of an industry. Nearly every industry has federally mandated regulations... it's congress' job to regulate commerce and industry.

Mandating that every citizen be forced to buy insurance for merely existing & breathing is an entirely different matter because there is no personal choice in the matter. Making purchasing choices for private citizens is not akin to regulating industry... private citizens are not industry. People choosing not to buy health insurance is categorically choosing not to participate in commerce... by definition not participating in commerce is NOT commerce. Having the power to regulate interstate commerce does not give congress the power to force people to purchase private products. You can't legislate demand. It's a massive overreach of powers and introduces a slippery slope.

Perhaps the next auto or bank bailout will be congress mandating that people buy an American car or refinance a mortgage.

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If a health insurance mandate is unconstitutional, why did George Washington sign one in 1790? [View all] pnwmom Jun 2012 OP

Great find. pinto Jun 2012 #1

Thanks. I was glad to see that the Professor sent this in after the oral arguments. pnwmom Jun 2012 #2

The only thing that makes a difference is what their owners tell them. Sirveri Jun 2012 #24

And John Adams signed the Sedition Act in 1798 kenny blankenship Jun 2012 #3

This law didn't "get past" Congress. It was legislated by Congress. pnwmom Jun 2012 #4

Difference is those insurances and mandates were related to a choice, one cannot Lionessa Jun 2012 #7

Also the "mandate" this professor is speaking of required those ship owners to buy insurance Uncle Joe Jun 2012 #9

Where in the article does it say that? And does it also say that the mandate pnwmom Jun 2012 #13

And how would you feel if this mandate was re-vitalized? Lionessa Jun 2012 #15

I would argue that the requirement was stupid. But that wouldn't make it unconstitutional. pnwmom Jun 2012 #17

I argue both are unconstitutional and since one is clearly no longer upheld, I think using it as an Lionessa Jun 2012 #18

This isn't stated in your article, this is The New Republic after-all, but this same Uncle Joe Jun 2012 #19

x2 AnotherMcIntosh Jun 2012 #6

Different, this was a specific insurance for a particular industry Lionessa Jun 2012 #5

The point is that there have been many similar mandates in the past, and they have never been pnwmom Jun 2012 #10

The point is THEY ARE NOT SIMILAR. The others are based on a choice, being alive isn't a choice. Lionessa Jun 2012 #12

They ARE similar, according to this Harvard law professor, because both situations pnwmom Jun 2012 #14

Then he or she is an idiot in my opinion. Lionessa Jun 2012 #16

Thanks for the well-thought out, considered opinion. pnwmom Jun 2012 #20

Some POV don't need a verbose explanation for most, are you requiring an explanation Lionessa Jun 2012 #21

He was just one of our founding fathers SoutherDem Jun 2012 #8

K&R drm604 Jun 2012 #11

You are not referencing an individual mandate no punishing inactivity TheKentuckian Jun 2012 #22

You didn't read the article. A few years later, pnwmom Jun 2012 #25

This is simply the car insurance argument redrawn, MadHound Jun 2012 #23

A few years later, there was a mandate for individuals to purchase hospitalization insurance. pnwmom Jun 2012 #26

Mandating the purchase of insurance for your employees is WAY different. OneTenthofOnePercent Jun 2012 #27

If you had read further, you'd have seen that there were also individual mandates. pnwmom Jun 2012 #32

Once again.. choose to participate in a profession and accept regulations in that industry. OneTenthofOnePercent Jun 2012 #33

Why don't we have Medicare For All? n/t leftstreet Jun 2012 #28

Because it couldn't pass Congress. Even this barely passed Congress. n/t pnwmom Jun 2012 #31

You actually had to own a ship and hire seamen. Zalatix Jun 2012 #29

No, there were several different mandates, including ones that covered individuals. pnwmom Jun 2012 #30