Obamacare Archives - Page 13 of 19

So Much For the Commerce Clause Challenge to Individual Mandate Being “Frivolous”

The Volokh Conspiracy: “Remember when the Commerce Clause challenge to the individual insurance mandate was dismissed by all serious and knowledgeable constitutional law professors and Nancy Pelosi as ‘frivolous’? Well, as Jonathan notes below, the administration is now apparently telling the New York Times that the individual insurance ‘requirement’ and ‘penalty’ is really an exercise of the Tax Power of Congress.”

See “Healthcare Penalty Need Not Be Apportioned Among the States.”

An Ugly Preview of ObamaCare

Washington Post: “If you want a preview of President Obama’s health-care ‘reform,’ take a look at Massachusetts. . . . In 1990, health spending represented about 16 percent of the state budget, says the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. By 2000, health’s share was 22 percent. In 2010, it’s 35 percent.”

Here Come the Fat Police: Obesity Rating for Every American Must Be Included in Stimulus-Mandated Electronic Health Records

CNS News: “New federal regulations issued this week stipulate that the electronic health records–that all Americans are supposed to have by 2014 under the terms of the stimulus law that President Barack Obama signed last year–must record not only the traditional measures of height and weight, but also the Body Mass Index: a measure of obesity. . . . The law also requires that these electronic health records be available–with appropriate security measures–on a national exchange.”

Law Professor Says Obamacare Tax Penalty is Unconstitutional

University of Florida Professor of Law Steven J. Willis and 2010 UF law graduate Nakku Chung wrote an article called Constitutional Decapitation and Health Care, in which they argue that Obamacare’s tax penalty is unconstitutional. Here is the abstract:

Willis and Chung demonstrate how I.R.C. § 5000A – the Health Care Act penalty – is an unapportioned capitation tax, violative of U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 9. As they demonstrate, the “penalty” is – at least on its face – a tax. To be a constitutional tax, it must be an excise tax, an income tax, or a proportional capitation tax. Through the process of elimination, they demonstrate the penalty is none of these.

Others convincingly demonstrate the “penalty” is unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause. They argue the “penalty” is indeed a penalty and not a tax. Willis and Chung pick up where that argument leaves off: if that argument fails and the Court finds this is a tax, it is an unconstitutional unapportioned direct tax.

Despite being labeled an excise tax by Congress, the penalty is unlike any existing excise tax because it applies to the failure to act by an individual. Existing failure-to-act excise taxes differ because they apply to entities which have chosen to partake in particular activities. The provision thus fails the historic requirements of an excise tax, namely that it apply to an activity, transaction, or the use of property. The tax also fails the traditional “pass-on” nature of excise taxes. If the Court were to approve it as a uniform excise tax, the direct tax apportionment requirement would be eviscerated.

The penalty similarly fails the 16th Amendment definition of an income tax. Not only does it appear not to tax income, it fails to operate as an income tax, and it fails the 16th Amendment realization requirement long accepted by the Supreme Court. Willis and Chung dismiss – as unrealistic academic dogma – arguments for ignoring the realization requirement. They acknowledge, but refute, academic arguments criticizing the Pollock and Macomber decisions, as well as arguments for ignoring the Constitution’s direct tax apportionment requirement.

Billions of New Tax Forms Starting 2012: 40 Million Businesses Must Send IRS a Form 1099 to Every Party They Pay $600+ a Year

CNN Money: “The new regulations, which kick in at the start of 2012, require any taxpayer with business income to issue 1099 forms to all vendors from whom they purchased more than $600 of goods and services that year. That promises to launch a fusillade of new paperwork: An estimated 40 million taxpayers will be subject to the requirement, including 26 million who run sole proprietorships, according to a report released this week by [IRS] National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson.” The new 1099 requirement was contained in the 2,200 plus pages of the Obamacare law.