Below The Beltway

The Constitutionality of ObamaCare is apparently a subject that neither Nancy Pelosi, nor any other Member of Congress has given any consideration to. In today’s Washington Post, however, Law Professor Randy Barnett takes a look at the probable Constitutional challenges to the health care bill:
Can Congress really require that every person purchase health insurance from [...]

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case, we heard frequently from media commentators that the Supreme Court was becoming “too conservative.”
Well, the American public does not seem to agree:
In political terms is the Supreme Court too liberal, too conservative, or about right?
32% Too liberal
23% Too conservative
33% About right
11% Not [...]

Over at The Liberty Papers, I’ve posted an essay titled Is “Deem And Pass” Constitutional ? Neither The Question Nor The Answer Are As Simple As You Think
Go check it out.

There’s been much discussion in the past few days about the so-called “deem and pass” procedure that the House of Representatives will apparently use on Sunday when it finally takes a vote on ObamaCare.
A December 2006 report published by the Congressional Research Service provides some much-needed perspective. As the article notes, the self-executing rule has [...]

Let the litigation begin:
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho took the lead in a growing, nationwide fight against health care overhaul Wednesday when its governor became the first to sign a measure requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government if residents are forced to buy health insurance.
Similar legislation is pending in 37 other states.
Constitutional [...]

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sent the following letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Office of the Speaker
H-232, U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C.
Dear Speaker [...]

KipEsquire posts a rebuttal of sorts to my post yesterday about the probable constitutionality of the so-called Slaughter Solution:
I vaguely recalled learning the Enrolled Bill Doctrine in law school. Not in a Constitutional Law class, mind you, but in Statutory Interpretation. That’s because the Doctrine is not a true constitutional principle. It [...]

This is how a bill is supposed to become a law:

The legitimate meaning of [the Constitution] must be derived from the text itself.
— James Madison, born 259 years ago today

Former Federal Judge Michael McConnell takes a look at the Constitutionality of the so-called Slaughter Solution:
To become law—hence eligible for amendment via reconciliation—the Senate health-care bill must actually be signed into law. The Constitution speaks directly to how that is done. According to Article I, Section 7, in order [...]