tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post880644187117010231..comments2024-03-10T13:59:19.230-04:00Comments on xpostfactoid: Conservative justices deny Congress a power that Congress doesn't wantAndrew Sprunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-68968347328062427272012-06-29T00:15:19.344-04:002012-06-29T00:15:19.344-04:00Excellent and cogent analysis. I guess Part III.A...Excellent and cogent analysis. I guess Part III.A of the decision restricts Congress from imposing a mandate to transact on an individual not already in the applicable market, enforceable through direct criminal penalties. You can count the number of Federal laws that have been proposed. much less passed, on that basis on one hand, with most of the fingers missing. Even ACA did not do that -- it offers a choice to the uninsured who can afford insurance but choose not to get it: Transact or pay a 2.5% tax penalty for not doing it. So one could fairly conclude that Roberts found that any Congressionally approved mandate that is enforceable through a reasonable tax penalty is constitutional. And he also repeatedly conceded Congress's power to regulate existing markets of every kind and nature. EPA, OSHA, SEC, you name it, they can regulate existing markets till the cows come home. So yeah, a very conservative majority recognized a theoretical limit on Congressional Power, but nobody was really debating that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com