Obama vs the U.S. Constitution- Round 3

Amidst all the finger pointing, death threats, and general mayhem going on in Sanford, FL this week, let's not forget that meanwhile our constitutional republic has been fighting for its very life.

Recapping Obama vs the Constitution to this point.....

Round 1 saw the Constitution deliver a sharp jab to Obama, rocking him back on his heels.  Dear Leader rebounded in Round 2, forcing his recess appointments past the Constitution's defenses.  Bloodied but unbowed, the venerable champ now takes aim at the "transformational" upstart in Round 3- Obamacare.

After 3 days, the arguments before the Supreme Court on Obamacare have ended.  Most observers in the court room have indicated it has been a very bad week for Dear Leader and the obamination that is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Monday arguments centered around whether the fee imposed on those who don't comply with the individual mandate is in fact a penalty or a tax.  This is a critical point, as it gives the Supreme Court its standing to render an opinion.  If the fee is deemed a tax, then SCOTUS can not rule on it until someone has actually paid the tax, which won't occur until 2014.  If the fee is a penalty, then the court has the ability to rule on it now.  Throw out the lawyer-speak, and let's examine those two words.  A tax is a sum assessed based on a citizen's actions, ie the purchase of a vehicle, the earning of income, the ownership of a home.  A penalty is assessed for a citizen's inaction, i.e. the failure to file a tax return, the failure to comply with local codes, etc.  If we allow the government to "tax" us for actions we don't take, then we have lost what little freedom we have left.

 Tuesday was the real centerpiece of the case, with discussions of the constitutionality of the individual mandate taking center stage.  U.S Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argued Obama's case.  Undercover SACSTW correspondents were able to smuggle out video of Verrilli's appearance before the court, Verrilli is the one in the white trunks...........

The Obama administration maintains that the individual mandate is permissible under "the commerce clause" of the U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 8).  The clause reads.."[The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes;".  Commerce of course, is economic activity.  Buying, selling, manufacturing, shipping, etc.  Commerce is not economic inactivity.  An individual who does not buy health insurance is NOT participating in commerce.  It is as simple as that.

The individual mandate in Obamacare is the most venomous threat to our liberties that the progressive left has ever concocted.  It was summed up beautifully by Justice Kennedy when he said that the individual mandate "changes the relationship of the government to the individual in a very fundamental way".  You bet it does.  If the individual mandate is upheld by the court, then the great American experiment is over.

Yesterday, the court heard arguments about the "severability" of the individual mandate.  In other words, if the mandate is properly struck down as unconstitutional, does that invalidate the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  Of course it does.  Some on the left would have you believe that the individual mandate can just be "carved out" of Obamacare, leaving the rest of its odious and onerous provisions standing.  That's like the car dealership telling you they can lower the price of your new car by selling it to you without wheels.  The mandate is what allows Obamacare to function, without it the entire bill must be abandoned.

Make no mistake folks, this is it.  This is the fight for the very existence of the American way of life that Barack Obama has been itching for since he said this 5 days before the 2008 election..

The future of our nation, the oceans of blood we have shed for our freedom, the chance for our children and grandchildren to live as free citizens of the greatest nation on Earth, all of this now hangs in the balance.